NORWAY delivered a World Cup warning to Scotland when they scalped Germany in Dusseldorf.

Celtic's Andreas Hinkel played the first 45 minutes, before Christian Grindheim's goal midway through the second period handed the Norwegians their first win over the Germans for 73 years, and sent a message to George Burley that they are still very much alive and kicking in the battle for places at South Africa 2010.

There was, however, better news for Burley as Holland were held to a 1-1 draw in a friendly against Tunisia in their final warm-up ahead of the visit of Scotland to Amsterdam on March 28.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was on target for the Orange, but when Burley studies the DVD of the game there will be plenty for him to take encouragement from as the Tunisians caused problems.

Scotland's other Group Nine rivals were also in friendly action, Macedonia drawing 1-1 with Moldova, while Iceland beat Liechten-stein 2-0. They are at Hampden on April 1 for a crucial qualifier.

Meantime, the Old Firm were today counting the heads after a raft of players were away on international business ahead of their showdown at Parkhead this Sunday.

Celtic gaffer Gordon Strachan will have been none too pleased that striker Scott McDonald made a 12,000-mile round trip simply to sit on the bench after he was an unused substitute in Australia's 0-0 draw with Japan in yesterday's World Cup qualifier.

While Parkhead team-mate Shunsuke Naka-mura played the whole 90 minutes for the hosts, McDonald was left frustrated on the sidelines in Yokohama's International Stadium.

Australia and Japan still hold the top two spots in Group A of the Asian qualifiers, with the Aussies two points clear ahead of a rematch in Melbourne in June.

Both will qualify for South Africa next summer if those positions are maintained, but Nakamura is taking nothing for granted.

"We haven't made it to the World Cup yet," said Nakamura. "We have four games left and nobody is thinking it's a done deal. This was a difficult match against a difficult opponent and we now move on."

Both players are now on the long trek back and Strachan will have to assess their conditions ahead of the Glasgow derby on Sunday.

Aiden McGeady had an excellent game at Croke Park as the Repbulic of Ireland came from a goal down to beat Georgia 2-1 thanks to a Robbie Keane double, while Artur Boruc played the second half of Poland's 1-0 win over Wales in Portugal. Georgios Samaras featured for Greece as they drew 1-1 in Denmark.

Meantime, Rangers' DaMarcus Beasley played a leading role for the USA as they beat Mexico 2-0 in the opening game of the CONCACAF final stage of World Cup qualifiying in Ohio.

Michael Bradley bagged a double and Beasley said: "It's a great start for us, we played well as Mexico are a great side. We have a very good, young team and, hopefully, we can go and secure a place in South Africa."

Andrius Velicka was on target for Lithuania in a 3-1 friendly win over Andorra, while Madjid Bougherra set up a goal for Algeria as they beat Benin 2-1.