Scotland disappoint and Wales are left 
in tatters

There had been pressure on Craig Levein’s men to deliver a win following the disappointment of Saturday’s goalless stalemate against Serbia in their Group A opener.

Kenny Miller cancelled out Nikolce Noveski’s opener just before the interval but the Scots could not find a winner, leaving them with just two points from two home games in a campaign which has so far failed to live up to expectations.

The Tartan Army had hoped the football team might be able to maintain the feelgood factor in the country following Andy Murray’s US Open tennis triumph.

Instead, they were left frustrated and unhappy as the final whistle sounded, and the World Cup finals in Brazil in 2014 seemed further away than ever.

Wales’ World Cup aspirations in the same group lie in tatters after an inept display at the Karadjordje Stadium saw them roundly thumped by Serbia.

Woeful defending played a major part in Wales’ heaviest defeat since 1996 and Aleksandar Kolarov and Zoran Tosic had the hosts 2-0 up inside 25 minutes.

Gareth Bale gave Wales hope with a stunning free-kick but Filip Djuricic got a third for the hosts before the break and Dusan Tadic, Branislav Ivanovic and Miralem Sulejmani completed the rout.

Northern Ireland had to accept a demoralising home draw against Luxembourg after a match they dominated ended with the visitors scoring a heavily deflected equaliser in the 86th minute.

The evening had started so promisingly for Michael O’Neill’s side, with former Doncaster Rovers player Dean Shiels claiming his first international goal with a deft finish in the 14th minute.

The hosts had nearly all of the meaningful chances thereafter, with three efforts disallowed by the officials and Chris Brunt hitting a post, only for Daniel Da Mota’s shot to squirm home via Ryan McGivern’s shoulder.

Coming on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Russia, Northern Ireland’s World Cup qualifying hopes are already hanging by a thread.

Debutant Robbie Brady stole the show as he scored one and set up two more as the Republic of Ireland beat Oman 4-1 in a friendly international.

Brady is yet to play a match for Manchester United, but he lit up a quiet atmosphere at last night’s friendly at Craven Cottage by crossing for Kevin Doyle’s opener early in the first half.

The winger smacked home a volley to make it 2-0 and he set up Shane Long for the Republic’s third while Alex Pearce added a fourth after Eid Al-Farsi had scored a consolation goal for Paul Le Guen’s side.