A young trio of Steven Fletcher, Steven Naismith and Scott Brown
When Scotland take on Ireland on Friday night Gordon Strachan’s team will consist of a number of players who are now in their mid-late twenties, a number of players who are now in what many regard as the best years of their football careers.
The core of the team is most likely to consist of the likes of David Marshall (29), Scott Brown (29), Steven Naismith (28) and Steven Fletcher (27) but while those four have cemented their places in the Scotland starting 11, the other thing they have in common is that they all also represented the country numerous times at youth level.
National under-21 teams often get a hard time and many fans and pundits in this country don’t take them particularly seriously, however, if Germany’s recent success is anything to go by then it can only be a positive that so many of our players are graduating from Scotland under-21 boy to Scotland senior international man.
Below we have a look at Gordon Strachan’s potential starting 11 at the start of their Scotland careers.
Goalkeeper
David Marshall: We are currently incredibly fortunate in the goalkeeping department, however, the Cardiff City man seems to have established himself as number one – here he is is flying the Saltire ahead of an under-21s match in 2004
Defence
Steven Whittaker: The Norwich defender is likely to start at right back on Friday, here he is playing that same role for the under-21s against Slovenia in 2004
Christophe Berra: The central defender was called up to the under-21 squad shortly after breaking into the Hearts first team, here he is lining prior to a match with Austria in 2007
Grant Hanley: The centre half may still be a young lad but here he as an even younger lad, playing for Scotland at under-19 level in 2010 in a match against Belgium
Andrew Robertson: This defence is completed by another who has only recently made the step up from the youths – here is Robertson taking on Georgia at under-21 level in 2013
Midfield
Scott Brown: The Celtic captain earned his first international call up when he was still at Hibs – here he is in 2004 playing for the under-21s against Denmark
Darren Fletcher: Admittedly the Manchester United midfielder didn’t spend long in the youth squads before he was promoted to the senior team but here he is playing for the under-21s in 2002 against Iceland
Shaun Maloney: He still has that baby face that could qualify him for the under-14s but here he is playing for the under-21s against Latvia in 2001
Chris Burke: The Nottingham Forest wide man was first given the international call when he was at Rangers, here he is at an under-21s training camp in 2004
Forwards
Steven Naismith: Naimsith found the net five times in his 15 appearances for the under-21s but here he is before that, playing for the under-19s against Norway
Steven Fletcher: Wouldn’t we love to see Fletcher celebrating on Friday – here he is after netting in the under-19 European Championships against Turkey in 2006
Scotland v Ireland: We take a look at the Scotland team in their younger days
