Scotland v Serbia: Andy Webster in search of home comforts on the road to 2014 World Cup

In an age where stockbrokers aspire to living in the footballer belt, it’s easy to forget that the highly-paid professionals who are the subject of envy and adoration were once star-struck fans themselves.

By Ewing Grahame

Take the Hearts central defender Andy Webster, for example. One of only three home-based players named by Craig Levein in Scotland’s original 24-man squad to face Serbia at Hampden on Saturday, the 30 year-old was considered a certain starter even before the spate of call-offs which has reduced the manager’s options.

It is nine years since he made his full debut (in a 2-0 home defeat by Austria during the unlamented Berti Vogts reign) but his emotional attachment to the national team stretched back to his primary school days.

Back, indeed, when Scotland’s qualification for the finals of major tournaments was taken for granted. Now Webster is optimistic that he can help to end a 16-year exile from these festivals of football but he still remembers the excitement he gleaned from watching the national team on the box.

“The next World Cup will be played in Brazil and that's why you play football,” he said. “It's going to be tough but it's something everyone will be striving for because it would be the pinnacle of any player's career.

“You look at people who have won the Champions League and even they say that playing at the World Cup is the highlight of their career.

“I can remember my Italia 90 sticker book being filled up. That's what you dream of as a footballer: it's the top. To achieve something like that would be massive.”

Given that Scotland are the fourth seeds in a group which is expected to be dominated by Belgium and Croatia, Webster believes that harvesting six points from the opening two matches at Hampden (Macedonia provide the opposition on Tuesday) could go a long way to ensuring that Levein goes into 2013 still harbouring hopes of progressing from Group A.

That conviction was strengthened when Liverpool eliminated Hearts from the third qualifying round of the Europa League on a 2-1 aggregate, with the Reds’ victory (courtesy of a Webster own goal) coming in the first leg at Tynecastle.

“It's extremely important, in any sort of competition where you play home and away, that you perform at home,” he said. That home form is vital.

“You need to build on that base for the rest of the campaign. So these games are crucial.

“We need to make sure we use the home advantage to get off to a good start. Of course it would lift everyone's performance.

“Ideally, we want to start with two wins. If you get that, football is all about momentum - you want to keep it going when you are winning.

“So, if we can start off well, confidence will start to build and everyone will relish the games.”

Webster played no part in the two previous qualifying campaigns – Levein, who managed him at Hearts and Dundee United, recalled him for a friendly against the Czech Republic in March, 2010, ending four years in the international wilderness – but those barren years have only served to whet his appetite for more representative action.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to play in the last couple of games and it’s nice to be involved,” he said.

“Obviously, I went through a period when that wasn’t the case but I’m delighted to be back. I think I appreciate it a little bit more now and I certainly don’t take anything for granted.

“I don’t even think, ‘Am I going to play?’ I just come here, do the best I can and hope that it’s good enough.

“For me, any time you play is important, even if it is a friendly. But, of course, there’s more importance placed on competitive games.

“That's the joys of international football. Part of it is handling that pressure.

“You notice the difference in quality at international level. Players are thinking one or two steps ahead and the way they link up play, their movement and awareness of what’s going on means that you’re up against a higher standard than you are domestically.

“From a defensive point of view, it’s all about levels of concentration. I know that one move in the wrong direction will allow their strikers or midfielders in on goal before I know it so you have to be switched on all the time – there’s not a minute where you can think, ‘I’ll just take a breather.’

“You don’t get that luxury.”

Taken from telegraph.co.uk