Some interesting points, though I really don't accept or like the reference to 'hate' which is way over the top, and completely disrespectful to the majority of our southern neighbours who we rub shoulders with all year round everywhere we go.

One straight forward word missing from all the all of the above is good old 'rivalry'.

Rivalry comes in many forms but where would football and other sports be without it? Many of the best rivalries are teams closely connected to each other by geographical location. Ask any football fan on earth and they will all be able to give dozens of examples. In normal circumstances nobody would expect Newcastle and Sunderland fans to support each other, QOS v Stranraer (or Gretna) Man Unt v Man City, Cardiff v Swansea, Hearts v Hibs, Spurs v Arsenal, Real v Atletico, AC Milan v Inter, Brazil v Argentina, Germany v Netherlands etc etc etc.

There are also many historical reasons as well as the David v Goliath factors (they are much bigger than us so we love to see them cut down to size).

The media don't help, who but in essence they are additional tool giving us freedom and an excuse to find another reason to have a pop at them (and would we not be getting carried away on our own hysteria if it was us in their shoes?).

In addition, many of us up here love the 'underdog' because we can connect with what we feel about ourselves. In Croatia's case a country of 4.2 million people (1 million less than Scotland) it gives us hope about what can happen even for the wee teams.

Well done Croatia!