the Republic of Ireland in their third game, meaning that the Republic won the tournament. In order to reach the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs, Scotland realistically needed to beat the Czech Republic in their next qualifier. The match ended in a 2–2 draw, after two late controversial penalty kick decisions by Dutch referee Kevin Blom both went against Scotland. 1–0 wins in the next two qualifiers against Lithuania and Liechtenstein kept their chances mathematically alive, but a 3–1 defeat by Spain coupled with the Czech Republic winning in Lithuania eliminated Scotland. For the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Scotland were drawn into UEFA qualifying Group A with Belgium, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Wales. Preparations started with a 1–1 draw in Slovenia, but the team suffered a 5–1 defeat by the United States in May. Scotland bounced back with a 3–1 friendly win against Australia in August. Levein attracted criticism for selecting Ian Black for that match, despite him playing in the fourth-tier Scottish Third Division. Levein had previously said that it would be "very difficult" for any player to go from playing in the Third Division to an international match, and had left out Lee Wallace for that reason. Black received a mixed reception when he appeared as a late substitute, with some sections of the crowd booing him. Levein stated his belief that Scotland were capable of winning all of their qualifying games, but the first two matches ended in home draws against Serbia and Macedonia. Levein was again criticised for adopting negative tactics. Levein then recalled Steven Fletcher and Kris Commons, but Scotland fell to two away defeats against Wales and Belgium, which left the Scots bottom of Group A with only 2 points from 4 games. He was relieved of his duties on 5 November 2012, following talks with the Scottish Football Association. Return to Hearts Levein returned to Hearts in May 2014, as he was appointed director of football by new owner Ann Budge. In that role, Levein oversaw the appointments of Robbie Neilson and Ian Cathro as head coach of Hearts. Four weeks after Cathro was sacked in August 2017, Levein was appointed first team manager. He signed a three-year contract as manager, while also continuing as director of football. Levein was sacked as Hearts manager and director of football on 31 October 2019, although he was retained in an advisory role until May 2020.