Scotland manager Craig Levein is confident the controversy over his pursuit of players such as England Under-21 striker Andy Carroll will be forgotten if he produces a winning team.
Levein has come under criticism for his pursuit of the Newcastle striker, who has a Scottish grandparent, but points to the make-up of Germany's impressive World Cup team, which included Poland-born Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose and Brazil-born Cacau, as evidence that Scotland must follow suit.
"I hear people say 'oh this player or that player shouldn't play because he is not Scottish'. But Germany did well at the World Cup and they have guys from all over the place," Levein told Scotland on Sunday.
"The rules are there and other people are using the rules.
"And while there might have been some people sitting there with their arms crossed, determined not to celebrate when they beat England or Argentina because a certain guy is Polish or whatever, the majority supported the team.
"We just want to win and if we do that it covers up a lot of these problems and the majority of Scottish fans will be happy."
Levein feels Scottish attempts to unearth eligible players are "amateurish" and he claimed it would have been a "travesty" if Hearts winger Andrew Driver had not been allowed to play for Scotland.
Levein succeeded in making the Oldham-born player a Scotland candidate after tweaking the home nations rule that qualifies non-native players who have attended school in their adopted country for five years.
And he will be similarly determined to persuade Carroll to choose Scotland, with the help of Newcastle first-team coach Colin Calderwood.
"I haven't given up on that one yet, not until he says 100% that he doesn't want to play for Scotland," Levein said. "I have Colin Calderwood down there and he is chipping away at him."
Source: PA
