Boooo!

We're off to the World Cup, and as part of our preparations the SFA have, obviously, organised some friendly matches.  These have not been successful, against Japan at Hampden, we got beat 1-0 and at the Hill Dickinson stadium, the new home of Everton, we also lost 1-0, this time to the Ivory Coast.

International football is different to club level. For a start, the team as don't train and play together every week. For me, a friendly game is about getting fitness levels up and the team meeting up again and the manager trying out new ideas and seeing which players will make his final squad. As the countdown is underway till we kick off our World Cup against Haiti on 14th June, all this seems eminently sensible to me.  The hard part is done, now it's all about getting ready for the tournament. We should be counting our blessings: four times World Champions Italy failed to qualify; they've now missed out on their third World Cup in a row.

That said, it’s been 28 years since Scotland last qualified. The fans’ reaction when we beat Denmark on that famous night at Hampden, winning 4-2 in one of the most thrilling games in our history seems a distant memory for some.

Yet some fans were booing at the two recent friendly matches, especially the one at Hampden. OK, I know nothing is surprising in football.  But really?There are high expectations of the national team, but boos from the stands at any level of football don't sit well with me. I wonder what the players feel when they hear them? How does it affect them – does it make them play any better or worse?

It's somehow embarrassing to think we were all happy to qualify and cheering the team on, but a few weeks later a few people were booing the players in those friendly matches. We should be supporting the team through thick and thin. When the tournament starts, we want this to be the first time Scotland has ever made it through the group stages.  They will have more chance of doing that if we’re all behind the players!

Michael McEwan, Ops Team The SFU