There is more to football that foot work. The mental strength required to keep on progressing in the face of another missed opportunity is something to be developed.

Craig Brown has described Scotland's EURO2012 qualifying campaign as "another glorious failure".  He is not alone in being disappointed in Scotland missing out in being involved in a major tournament but his legendary positive attitude in the face of adversity may not be so prevalent around the football fans in the country. Scotland's campaign finally crumbled in Alicante with a 3-1 footballing lesson handed out by the European and World champions Spain. The wait to return to the big stage continues with the 1998 World Cup in France the most recent appearance for fans to look back on. The next chance to audition is in qualifying games for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Scotland will face Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Macedonia and Wales in their group which will be a challenge as ever. However, Mr Positive, Brown believes Craig Levein's team have a strong chance of making it through to the finals. But he suggested Tuesday night's loss was "another glorious failure", with results in earlier qualifiers the main reason for Scotland missing out again.
 
Brown said: "There should be no place for failure in the mentality of players. The fans are now beginning to accept failure, which is surprising. The Tartan Army definitely deserves to go to a major tournament. I'm hoping and praying it will be the next one, the World Cup." Brown is sure Scotland will make it back to the spotlight one day. He said: "Obviously yes, the law of averages says yes. I was lucky. From '86 to '98 I was at five major tournaments with Scotland. It just became accepted we were going. I was lucky to be at three World Cups and two European Championships. Now we're struggling to get to either of those. I genuinely think this team which is emerging at the moment is good enough to qualify for the World Cup."
 
Brown was impressed by the efforts of Brighton striker Craig Mackail-Smith who played as the main striker against Spain in the absence of the injured Kenny Miller. Brown said: "He's an energetic guy. We thought we'd miss Kenny Miller for his energy and enthusiasm up front, but Craig Mackail-Smith certainly has the same qualities as Miller. Now I'd love to see both of them up front. It would be difficult to defend against these guys."