By Chris Burton Last updated: 21st January 2008
The Scottish FA have confirmed that the national side will face Croatia in a friendly on 26th March.
The game will represent the first match for the new Scotland manager with a decision about who should be chosen to succeed Alex McLeish expected to be made by the end of January.
Slaven Bilic's Croatia side were responsible for ending England's hopes of reaching Euro 2008 when they recorded a 3-2 victory at Wembley last November.
The SFA's chief executive Gordon Smith feels that a fixture against a side ranked 10th in the world will provide the kind of test Scotland need if they are to build on their impressive, if ultimately unsuccessful, Euro 2008 qualification bid.
"This will be the new manager's first game in charge," said Smith.
"I know that our supporters will turn out in big numbers to support him and the team as we enter a bright new era for Scottish football.
"We saw in their matches in the Euro qualifiers against England that Croatia has an exciting squad who play great football.
"They have an impressive pedigree on the world stage, finishing third in the 1998 World Cup.
"If we ourselves want to keep on improving, then these are exactly the types of teams that we should be playing.
"Our football is on the up, and we are only a few places below Croatia in the rankings. What we have to do, though, is get back to the situation where we regularly qualify for major championships.
"This is what Croatia do, and this is what we must seek to emulate.
"I firmly believe that playing against better teams shows us the standard that we have to reach. That is why I was so keen to negotiate a friendly against Croatia.
"We have a great squad of players who are improving all the time and we will soon have a new manager in place who we all hope will lead us to the World Cup and beyond."

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| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Saturday 21st November | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| 12:30 | Hearts vs St Johnstone |
| 15:00 | Falkirk vs Hamilton |
| 15:00 | Motherwell vs Aberdeen |
| 15:00 | Rangers vs Kilmarnock |
| 15:00 | St Mirren vs Hibernian |
| Sunday 22nd November | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| 12:30 | Dundee Utd vs Celtic |
| Saturday 28th November | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| 12:45 | Aberdeen vs Rangers |
| 15:00 | Celtic vs St Mirren |
| 15:00 | Hibernian vs Falkirk |
| 15:00 | Kilmarnock vs Hearts |
| 15:00 | Motherwell vs Dundee Utd |
| 15:00 | St Johnstone vs Hamilton |
| Saturday 5th December | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| 12:30 | Falkirk vs Rangers |
| 15:00 | Celtic vs Aberdeen |
| 15:00 | Dundee Utd vs St Mirren |
| 15:00 | Hibernian vs Motherwell |
| 15:00 | St Johnstone vs Kilmarnock |
| Sunday 6th December | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| 12:45 | Hamilton vs Hearts |
| Saturday 12th December | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| 12:45 | Motherwell vs Celtic |
| 15:00 | Aberdeen vs Hamilton |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Sunday 8th November | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| Falkirk 3 - 3 Celtic | |
| Saturday 7th November | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| Hearts 0 - 0 Hibernian | |
| Hamilton 2 - 2 Motherwell | |
| Kilmarnock 0 - 2 Dundee Utd | |
| Aberdeen 2 - 1 St Johnstone | |
| Rangers 2 - 1 St Mirren | |
| Saturday 31st October | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| Motherwell 1 - 0 Hearts | |
| Hibernian 2 - 0 Aberdeen | |
| St Johnstone 3 - 1 Falkirk | |
| Celtic 3 - 0 Kilmarnock | |
| St Mirren 0 - 2 Hamilton | |
| Sunday 25th October | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| Hamilton 1 - 2 Celtic | |
| Saturday 24th October | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| Aberdeen 0 - 2 Dundee Utd | |
| Kilmarnock 2 - 1 St Johnstone | |
| St Mirren 3 - 3 Motherwell | |
| Hearts 0 - 0 Falkirk | |
| Rangers 1 - 1 Hibernian | |
| Saturday 17th October | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| St Johnstone 1 - 2 Rangers | |
| Falkirk 1 - 3 St Mirren | |
| Dundee Utd 1 - 1 Hamilton | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celtic | 10 | 23 |
| 2 | Rangers | 10 | 22 |
| 3 | Hibernian | 11 | 21 |
| 4 | Dundee United | 10 | 19 |
| 5 | Motherwell | 11 | 18 |
| 6 | Aberdeen | 11 | 14 |
| 7 | St Mirren | 11 | 12 |
| 8 | Hearts | 11 | 10 |
| 9 | St Johnstone | 11 | 9 |
| 10 | Kilmarnock | 11 | 9 |
| 11 | Hamilton Academical | 11 | 9 |
| 12 | Falkirk | 10 | 4 |
Sunderland fan Lucinda Gittins was strutting her stuff in the Soccer AM studios this week.
Barca were stunned by a late leveller, Gers' match was abandoned while Inter march on in Serie A.
Mark Stewart was the toast of the Falkirk faithful as his late equaliser stunned Celtic in what was a pulsating six-goal thriller.
The Edinburgh derby ended in stalemate as Rangers cut the gap on leaders Celtic with a win over St Mirren.
Aberdeen recorded a welcome win over an unlucky St Johnstone in an entertaining tussle at Pittodrie which ended 2-1.
Kris Boyd further underlined his value to Rangers on Saturday with a double in a 2-1 win over St Mirren.
Lukas Jutkiewicz scored a late equaliser as Motherwell were held to a 2-2 draw by 10-man Hamilton.