The most glorious of failures
This might have been the greatest Glorious Failure of all. We drew the two World Cup finalists and a World Cup quarter finalist. We should have had no chance. And in the end if we had won either of the last two matches we'd have qualified.
Damn fecking bloody Georgia. And that damn fecking bloody Italy game at Hampden.
This rollercoaster ride started in front of 50,000 fans at Celtic Park against the Faroe Islands, an example that should constantly be held up to the SFA of the importance of a big home crowd. The Faroese had plenty of international experience but I've never seen a bunch of players brick themselves like they did at the noise around kickoff. This was the sort of game Scotland normally make a pig's ear of; it was 5-0 after 34 minutes. And so after navigating a tricky trip to Lithuania we welcomed the French.
Wow wow wow wow wow.
I had finished a week of night shifts that morning and therefore celebrated Gary Caldwell's goal in my dressing gown. Je ne regrette rien.
Of course we had to go and lose in Ukraine a few days later, but still. And then Watty legged it back to Rangers, but still.
What might have come of Alex McLeish but for the Immaculate Shin? Craig Beattie of all people came off the bench to scuff in a late winner in Eck's dugout debut against Georgia. It would have been hard for him, and Scotland, to recover had they dropped points in that one, especially given the inevitable loss in Italy in the next game.
And even then we were still underdogs coming into the last five games. A home win over Lithuania was workmanlike rather than impressive, and we went to Paris with little hope and even less expectation.
Cometh the hour, cometh James McFadden and one of the greatest Scotland performances and results of any era. Gordon, Hutton, Weir, McManus, Alexander, McCulloch, Fletcher (replaced by Pearson in the first half), Ferguson, Brown, Hartley, McFadden. Legends, the lot of them.
Yet there was still lots of work to do. Beating Ukraine at home - courtesy of another McFadden masterclass - was hardly a gimmie. It just makes the loss in Georgia seem even more bizarre.
And then Italy at home. We'd have been in with a win. After conceding almost straight from kickoff we refused to wilt, got deservedly level through Barry Ferguson and looked most likely to win it. Remember how Alan Hutton looked more like an elite full-back than Gianluca Zambrotta? When the one chance came it was McFadden, of all people, who sliced it wide. To add insult to injury, Italy nicked a late winner following an outrageous free kick decision. The unfairness of it all actually made grown adults amongst my friends and family, who would be stoical and sensible in any other circumstance, shout and scream and cry.
A 2-1 defeat, qualification hopes gone, and the fans still refused to leave until the players came back out for a lap of honour. How cool is that?
And of course, this was only the beginning of something special. Wasn't it?
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