Hibs players chasing World Cup dreams from Mount Florida to mile-high Denver: Your guide to all the action
Steve Clarke’s Scotland aim to build on brilliant start, while Aussies head for altitude
A head-to-head World Cup clash pitting an Easter Road favourite against the club’s record signing stands out. Beyond the obvious hope of seeing a couple of Hibs players helping Scotland take another giant leap – or two – towards next summer’s finals in Canada, Mexico and the USA, of course.
If this might not be the busiest international window for Hibs, David Gray will still be without half a dozen key players until the middle/end of next week. Duty calls for footballers who will be swapping East Mains for all-or-nothing qualifiers and useful friendlies from Mount Florida to a mile-high stadium in Colorado.
Grant Hanley to start – and a role for Kieron Bowie?
Starting closest to home, the entire nation is likely to be gripped by events at Hampden on Thursday night and Sunday evening, as Steve Clarke’s Scotland look to build on a brilliant start to their World Cup qualifying campaign. And Grant Hanley will surely feature prominently in at least one leg of the home double-header against Greece and Belarus.
The Hibs centre-half was Man of the Match as the Scots kicked off their Group C campaign with a goalless draw against Denmark in Copenhagen last month. He was then rested for the 2-0 away win over Belarus.
Scotland fixtures
| Thursday, Oct 9 | Scotland v Greece |
| Sunday, Oct 12 | Scotland v Belarus |
Former Newcastle, Blackburn and Norwich defender Hanley, now 33 and a free agent summer signing, has also impressed for Hibs in recent outings, despite being part of a team who lost an injury-time winner at Tynecastle on Saturday. He’s shown more than enough to retain his place – and has a confirmed admirer in Clarke.
Speaking when he named the squad, the Scotland boss expressed bafflement that Hanley should get such criticism from the Tartan Army, saying: “I know what he brings, I know how good of a defender he is, I know how good he is within the squad. I'm sure the people at Hibs are finding out what a good guy he is to have in the dressing room and what a good guy he is to have on the pitch. In terms of his performances for Hibs, no surprise to me.
“Sometimes you get the steady players that play week in, week out for your club or for your international squad that don't grab the headlines, but as a manager or a coach, you always appreciate what they bring to the group. Grant would certainly be in that category.”
Hibs striker didn’t start in last international break
As for Kieron Bowie? With Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes definitely ahead of the Hibs striker in the pecking order, and George Hirst also in the squad, don’t hold your breath. Considering the form he was in heading into the last international, when he didn’t get a minute of action for his country, Bowie hasn’t exactly strengthened his claim for international game time in the past month.
Six points from the two games would put Scotland in a very strong position heading into the final set of fixtures – away to Greece and at home to Denmark – next month. Win the group and they go straight into the World Cup for the first time since 1998. Finish second and there are play-offs to be navigated next spring.
Rocky XII: Thibault’s revenge
The Democratic Republic of Congo away to Togo in Lome would not, in most normal circumstances, be a high-demand fixture even for those who invest countless hours chasing down obscure streams to top up their football hipster credentials. But there is definitely a strong Hibs angle to Friday’s Group B game at the Stade de Kegue.
Club record signing Thibault Klidje is one of Togo’s most important players. Given his lack of game time for Hibs since that summer move from Luzern, in a deal expected to cost the club somewhere in the region of £1.5 million once everything is added up, it’ll be interesting to see how he fares.
DRC fixtures
Klidje could, of course, come up against Rocky Bushiri, although the centre-half isn’t a regular starter for the DRC. He’ll expect to be on the bench, at least, for the games against Togo and Sudan.
The DRC are currently sitting second in Group B, two points behind leaders Senegal and four points ahead of Sudan, while Togo are out of the running for qualification race. The nine group winners in Africa’s qualifying process will gain direct entry to next summer’s finals in North America, while the four best runners-up go into play-offs.
Jordan Obita’s Uganda are still hoping to force their way into the play-offs. Currently sitting second in Group G, they’ll probably need to win both of their remaining fixtures – they travel to Botswana on Thursday and then face a daunting away test against group leaders Algeria next Tuesday – to be in with a chance.
O Canada? And oh yeah, the other guys
With their place in the World Cup already confirmed, Australia could have used this international break to play a game in Europe. Maybe even give some of their players based in these parts a bit of a break from all the travelling.
But they’re heading to Montreal and then Denver over the coming days, taking on two of the tournament’s three joint hosts in games that should prove useful to everyone involved. Including Socceroos striker Martin Boyle, the only Hibee in the squad, with Jack Iredale left out.
Boyle and his team-mates will face a tricky challenge just to draw breath in Colorado, with Dick’s Sporting Goods Park situated 5200 feet – that’s a short corner away from being a mile – above sea level. Good preparation, should the Aussies end up playing in Mexico City (nearly 7500 feet above sea level) during the tournament.