After Scotland failed to impress in a recent friendly against Qatar, Gordon Strachan's men now turn their attention to their crucial qualification game against Republic of Ireland.

11 years after an exceptional performance for Celtic under current Ireland manager Martin O'Neill, Cardiff's David Marshall is now targeting Euro qualification by getting one over his former boss. What does Marshall remember about that night? Was it making saves against Ronaldinho? Was it playing in front of a packed crowd? 

“The weather was horrific,” Marshall recalls. “As a goalkeeper you are always thinking about the conditions." He added that "it had been fine" and "we had trained for two days in sunshine", then the weather turned. The Scot said, "We went on to the bus at half-five and it was bucketing down."

“It was a one-off game but if I didn’t do well in it," he continued. "I don’t know where I would have gone,” Marshall says. “You are only a goal away from going out," but he concluded "it becomes only a decent game and you did alright".

Is Marshall set for a move away from Cardiff City?

Even after an average season at club level in the Championship, Marshall still finds himself as the Scottish number one ahead of Celtic's Craig Gordon and Hull City's Allan McGregor. The Cardiff shot stopper is linked with a summer move to Liverpool and a positive performance for his country will only do him big favours if he is to secure a move back to the Barclays Premier League.

With Scotland trailing behind Poland and Germany in the group, this match against Republic of Ireland could ultimately end the qualification hopes of one of the nations.

Marshall and Scotland are desperate to get to the finals of a major tournament

Like his entire generation, one thing missing from Marshall’s CV is an appearance for Scotland in a major finals. “It would be the biggest thing in my career."

He began talk about his memories at a young age, "As a kid growing up I was watching Scotland in Euro 96, France 98." He stated, "to get there would be the highest achievement possible.”

With Poland topping the group and World champions Germany out of form, it is unlikely that Scotland will have a better opportunity to qualify for a major tournament for a very long time.

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About the author
Ben Phillips
Cardiff City supporter, also love Bayern Munich! Love all things football and music, follow me on Twitter! @benphillipsss