Faramir Posted April 22, 2004 Author Share Posted April 22, 2004 23.3.13 Romania (0) Scotland (2) Romania- None Scotland- K.Parker 11 M.Kerr 59 MOM- Kiegan Parker, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 7, Stephen Crainey- 6, Alan Archibald- 9, Jim Reid- 7, Andrew Rollo- 8, Michael Stewart- 7, Stephen Pearson- 7, Barry Ferguson- 7, Mark Kerr- 8, Kenny Miller- 8, Kiegan Parker- 9, Richard Montgomery- 6 (on 61 for Archibald), Ross O'Donoghue- 7 (on 61 for Ferguson) Our first match in 2013 was a key road visit to Bucharest to face Romania. A win from Romania would put them right back into the hunt for 2nd spot and I was assuming France would beat Belarus on the road, so this was a match I felt we needed to win. Kiegan Parker got us off on a great note when he knocked in a rebound after Radu Tudor couldn't handle a blistering shot from Kenny Miller. We dominated the first half- only allowing the home side one shot on goal, while managing eight. We maintained our pressure in the second half and Mark Kerr added an insurance goal when it was his turn to drill a rebound shot past Tudor- after he again couldn't snare a hard shot from Kenny Miller. They only managed one shot in the second half also and we boarded the flight out with a 2-0 win in the books. In other Group play- France, as expected, dominated Slovenia in a 4-0 win, while Estonia finally managed their first win- a close 2-1 victory in Malta. The results left France and us even atop the Group. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted April 23, 2004 Author Share Posted April 23, 2004 27.3.13 Malta (0) Scotland (3) Malta- None Scotland- J.Reid 45 S.Nicholas 61 R.O'Donoghue 87 MOM- Steven Nicholas, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 7, Jim Paterson- 7, Alan Archibald- 7, Jim Reid- 7, Andrew Rollo- 9, Mark McNeil- 8, Mark Kerr- 7, Barry Ferguson- 7, Ross O'Donoghue- 8, Kenny Miller- 8, Steven Nicholas- 9, Shaun Maloney- 9 (on 60 for Miller), Stephen Hughes- 8 (on 60 for Ferguson) We continued our winning ways with another impressive road performance at Malta. Malta had played us very tough in Edinburgh, but this time we completely shut them down on offense. There was little for the home crowd to cheer as we didn't allow them a shot on goal, while managing 19 ourselves. Kevin Galea kept them in the match with a terrific first half, but Jim Reid's header on a Jim Paterson free kick gave us the halftime lead. Shaun Maloney made an explosive entrance- subbing on for Kenny Miller- as he broke clean and then laid the ball off perfectly for Steven Nicholas to drive past Galea to put the match out of reach for us. Ross O'Donoghue finished off the scoring with a volley off a nice pass from Andrew Rollo. In other Group play- France worked their way past Estonia at Tallinn by a 2-0 margin. Romania dumped Slovenia 3-0 to remain within lurking distance of France and us atop the Group. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted April 23, 2004 Author Share Posted April 23, 2004 17.4.13 Rangers were finishing out a dominating campaign in the SPL. They clinched the title with four matches remaining. Motherwell, now under rookie manager Graeme Anderson, was then 4th and if they finished there it would be there worst finish since 2002-3, when we finished 3rd. *** 23.4.13 Scotland Under-21 (5) Switzerland (0) Scotland- M.Bruce 20 S.Thomson 30 S.Duncan 43 D.Campbell 61 I.Gray 90 Switzerland- None MOM- Steve Duncan, Scotland Scotland- John Martin- 7, Derek Bruce- 7 (Barnsley), Iain Crawford- 8 (Partick Thistle), Mark McCall- 7, Darron Patton- 9, Alan O'Neil- 7, Garry Shearer- 7, Ian Knox- 8, Scott Thomson- 8, Martin Bruce- 8, Steve Duncan- 9, Ian Gray- 8 (on 59 for Bruce), Derek Campbell- 8 (on 59 for Duncan), Tom Smith- 8 (on 59 for Knox), Paul Elliott- 7 (on 59 for Thomson), Mark Craig- 7 (on 59 for Shearer) In another convincing effort our Under-21 crunched visiting Switzerland 5-0 in a friendly. Martin Bruce started the scoring with a header on a cross from Scott Thomson. Thomson then scored with a rising shot after a pass from Ian Knox. The match seemed firmly in hand at halftime after Steve Duncan scored with an excellent touch after a good pass from Knox. Derek Campbell continued the scoring binge in the 2nd half when he headed in a cross from Tom Smith and Smith also set up Ian Gray for a pretty goal in the late stages to finish off the 5-0 win. I remembered thinking after this match that Ian Knox might be the eventual replacement for Barry Ferguson on the Senior side- and that he might be on the Senior side sooner than he (or anyone else) expected. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 What can I say? You managed to win the Champions League with a club outside the Auld Firm. Hats off to ya! I just read all 4 pages of this phenomenol story today. I can't believe what you did at Motherwell but good luck in the future with the Scottish national team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted April 25, 2004 Author Share Posted April 25, 2004 jammy-gee - Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate you taking the time to plow through the entire story *** 24.4.13 Scotland (7) Switzerland (2) Scotland- D.Fletcher 4 G.O'Connor 11 K.Parker 39 B.Ferguson 52 S.Hughes 64,71,82 Switzerland- C.Guei 36 P.Sutter 61 MOM- Barry Ferguson, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 6, Stephen Crainey- 8, Alan Archibald- 6, Jim Reid- 7, Andrew Rollo- 9, Michael Stewart- 9, Stephen Pearson- 9, Barry Ferguson- 10, Darren Fletcher- 8, Gary O'Connor- 9, Kiegan Parker- 8, Stephen Hughes (on 58 for Ferguson), Graham Anderson- 7 (on 58 for Parker), Steven Nicholas- 7 (on 58 for O'Connor), Mark McNeil- 8 (on 58 for Stewart), Mark Fotheringham- 7 (on 58 for Fletcher), Mark Kerr- 7 (on 58 for Pearson), Richard Montgomery- 8 (on 58 for Archibald) We used our pace advantage and passing attack to crush the Senior side in our friendly. It was a match that we played well from the opening whistle- and other than a couple of defensive lapses- were in control of from start to finish. Darren Fletcher notched his first International goal after Barry Ferguson's cross set him up nicely. Gary O'Connor scored in his debut after Stephen Pearson headed down to him. Switzerland gained a glimmer of hope when Christian Guei made an excellent run and scored his 10th International goal on a hard, low shot past Jamie Langfield. Ferguson made another fine pass and Kiegan Parker had an easy time returning our 2-goal margin. We came out from half with even more confidence and Ferguson scored his 10th International goal after Michael Stewart intercepted a goal kick from struggling Patrick Bettoni and headed to the moving Ferguson. Switzerland's Pascual Sutter scored against our run of play when he deflected a Marcel Kotter free kick over Langfield. We closed the match with Stephen Hughes' unlikely hat-trick. After replacing Ferguson, he headed past Bettoni on a cross from Stephen Crainey, half-volleyed a winner from a Mark McNeil pass and then made a fine move on Bettoni after Mark Fotheringham's through ball reached him. The 7-2 win was a stirring one for the sold out Hampden Park crowd and pleased the National Association as well. It also was a new Scottish record for scoring in a match. *** Rangers finished out their campaign with a flourish and were well above the other clubs in SPL. Dundee was a surprise 2nd place finisher. Celtic was 3rd. Motherwell broke their string of 9 consecutive 1st or 2nd place finishes with a 4th place spot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted April 26, 2004 Author Share Posted April 26, 2004 4.6.13 Scotland Under-21 (4) Estonia Under-21 (0) Scotland- I.Knox 4 I.Crawford 29 S.Duncan 45-P M.Bruce 63 Estonia- None MOM- Ian Knox, Scotland Scotland- John Martin- 7, Derek Bruce- 7 , Iain Crawford- 8 , Mark McCall- 8, Darron Patton- 8, Alan O'Neil- 8, Garry Shearer- 8, Ian Knox- 10, Scott Thomson- 8, Martin Bruce- 8, Steve Duncan- 9, Ian Gray- 7 (on 61 for Bruce), Mark Craig- 7 (on 61 for Shearer) Ian Knox demonstrated that he is destined for great things as he helped us dominate our match over visiting Estonia. Knox was everywhere in the midfield and scored the first of our goals as we outshot our visitors 19-2 for the match. Knox outleaped his marker to head in a corner from Steve Duncan for our first goal. Iain Crawford also scored on a Duncan corner to put us up 2-0. It was another corner that saw Mark McCall fouled in the area and Duncan converted the penalty for a 3-0 halftime lead. Martin Bruce capped the scoring with the lone goal of the second half when he snapped a loose ball into the open net to finish off our 4-0 win. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Any plans for becoming a club manager again? By the way, sorry to ask this but could you tell me how to show the league tables on a forum? Its really bugging me! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted April 27, 2004 Author Share Posted April 27, 2004 jammy-gee -- Nope, was going to try and finish the Challenge out managing only the National sides *** 5.6.13 Scotland (3) Estonia (1) Scotland- K.Miller 5 B.Ferguson 19,33 Estonia- J.Jurisson 77 MOM- Barry Ferguson, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 7, Stephen Crainey- 8, Alan Archibald- 7, Jim Reid- 8, Andrew Rollo- 8, Michael Stewart- 7, Stephen Pearson- 7, Barry Ferguson- 9, Mark Kerr- 7, Kenny Miller- 8, Kiegan Parker- 8, Ross O'Donoghue- 7 (on 63 for Ferguson), Shaun Maloney- 7 (on 63 for Pearson) Our quick start was what earned us the win over visting Estonia. Kenny Miller's header on a cross from Barry Ferguson had the fans at Hampden cheering from the opening moments. Ferguson then took control of the midfield and made two dazzling runs through their defense and slotted both home. We relaxed a bit too much in the second half and allowed our 1st goal in Group play when Jussi Jurisson drove a low shot past Jamie Langfield. We finished out the 3-1 in fine style and it set us up with a showdown match against France at Hampden Park in August. In other Group play- France set up their showdown match with us by edging Romania 1-0 on an 89th minute goal. Slovenia also edged Malta 1-0. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted April 28, 2004 Author Share Posted April 28, 2004 30.8.13 Scotland Under-21 (1) France Under-21 (0) Scotland- S.Duncan 45 France- None MOM- Steve Duncan, Scotland Scotland- John Martin- 8, Derek Bruce- 7 , Iain Crawford- 7 , Mark McCall- 8, Darron Patton- 8, Alan O'Neil- 8, Garry Shearer- 7, Ian Knox- 7, Scott Thomson- 7, Martin Bruce- 7, Steve Duncan- 8, Mark Craig- 7 (on 62 for Shearer), Jim Bruce- 7 (on 62 for Derek Bruce) The Under-21 side won a close match with the visiting French thanks to a brilliant pass and shot combo in the first half injury time. Steve Duncan's goal off a pass from Alan O'Neill was the lone goal in a closely played match. France had less chances than Scotland, but came close to scoring on John Martin several times. *** 31.8.13 Scotland (2) France (1) Scotland- M.Stewart 45 S.Hughes 68 France- F.Bruneau 11 MOM- Stephen Pearson, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 8, Stephen Crainey- 8, Alan Archibald- 9, Jim Reid- 7, Andrew Rollo- 8, Michael Stewart- 7, Stephen Pearson- 9, Stephen Hughes- 8, Mark Kerr- 7, Kenny Miller- 7, Kiegan Parker- 8 (No Subs used) Even without injured Captain Barry Ferguson, it was the match where we proved we belonged in the World Cup. It really was a stunning victory for us- despite how well we had played, we were still considered a 'fluke' contender before this match. It looked bad for us in the early going when we went behind on Fabrice Bruneau's early strike past Jamie Langfield. They hemmed us in our own end for the first 20 minutes of the match. But, we were a determined club and we rallied to begin putting pressure on Sebastien Frey. He singlehandedly kept France in much of the remaining match- and was spectacularly effective through much of the first half. In first half injury time it was Michael Stewart who proved he is a clutch player as he made a short run into the area and then blasted a shot past Frey for his 1st ever International goal to even things at 1-1. We kept up the pressure to start the second half, but Frey was very sharp. The complexion of the match changed at 62 minutes when their skipper, Thierry Dalmat, earned his 2nd yellow card and was sent off. We capitalized at 68 minutes as Stephen Pearson beat Jean-Alain Boumsong on the dribble and his cross was deflected past Frey by Stephen Hughes. With the lead and them short a man, we didn't press forward as much- but were still able to maintain the kind of pressure that never allowed them to have much rythym to their offense. The 2-1 win boosted us into a commanding position atop the Group- 3 points ahead of France, with a significant goal differential lead on them as well. In other Group play- Romania came from behind to win at Malta 3-2. Estonia knocked off Slovenia 2-1 at Tallinn. Those results assured France of at least 2nd place in the Group. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted April 29, 2004 Author Share Posted April 29, 2004 3.9.13 Slovenia Under-21 (0) Scotland Under-21 (2) Slovenia- None Scotland- S.Duncan 62 T.Smith 90 MOM- Colin MacLeod, Scotland Scotland- John Martin- 8, Derek Bruce- 8 , Iain Crawford- 8 , Mark McCall- 7, Darron Patton- 8, Alan O'Neil- 8, Garry Shearer- 7, Ian Knox- 7, Colin MacLeod- 9, Martin Bruce- 8, Steve Duncan- 8, Tom Smith- 8 (on 61 for Knox) In a match where we strangled their midfield, we couldn't break away from them and though it finally turned out a win for us- they deserved accolades for their determined defense. We outshot them 13-1 for the match, but it wasn't until Steve Duncan was able to volley a pass from Tom Smith in that we gained the lead. Smith then clinched the match in second half extra time when Colin MacLeod crossed to him. It was a fairly grueling match and we were happy to finally nail down the win. *** 4.9.13 Slovenia (2) Scotland (4) Slovenia- G.Smon 42,81 Scotland- S.Hughes 14,28 K.Miller 56,59 MOM- Stephen Hughes, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 7, Stephen Crainey- 6, Alan Archibald- 7, Jim Reid- 6, Andrew Rollo- 8, Michael Stewart- 8, Stephen Pearson- 8, Stephen Hughes- 10, Mark Kerr- 7, Kenny Miller- 10, Kiegan Parker- 7, Ross O'Donoghue- 7 (on 57 for Hughes), Shaun Maloney- 6 (on 64 for Parker) We used the 1-2 punch of Stephen Hughes and Kenny Miller to see off Slovenia in a 4-2 win that moved us closer to winning the Group outright. With the win, we needed only a draw at home against Romania to ensure a clear placement above France. We also still held a four goal differential advantage on France going into our final match. Hughes scored first on a header off a cross from Stephen Pearson. He put us up 2-0 when he curled in a free kick past Marko Kuzma. Slovenia drew a goal back and gained some momentum when Gregor Smon scored late in the half. We ended that momentum with a quick double strike from Kenny Miller- the first on a rebound and the second when he deflected a cross from Andrew Rollo past Kuzma. Slovenia managed a late consolation goal to make the final 4-2. In other Group play- France easily dumped Malta 3-0 in Stade de France, while Romania moved past Estonia 2-1. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted April 30, 2004 Author Share Posted April 30, 2004 5.10.13 Scotland (2) Romania (1) Scotland- S.Hughes 37 G.Anderson 81 Romania- M.Niculae 45 MOM- Jamie Langfield, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 8, Stephen Crainey- 7, Richard Montgomery- 8, Jim Reid- 6, Andrew Rollo- 7, Michael Stewart- 8, Ian Knox- 7, Stephen Hughes- 8, Robert McKeown- 7, Kenny Miller- 7, Steven Nicholas- 7, Ross O'Donoghue- 7 (on 72 for Knox), Graham Anderson- 8 (on 63 for Miller) In a match that represented both our present and our future- we managed to beat Romania at Hampden Park on a late goal to ensure that we would win our Group and advance to the World Cup. With both Barry Ferguson and Alan Archibald nursing minor injuries and several other regular starters knackered from SPL play- we featured the debut of Ian Knox (who set a record for youngest Scot at 19) and also welcomed back Robert McKeown and Richard Montgomery into the starting lineup. Stephen Hughes gave us the lead when he deflected a cross from Kenny Miller past Radu Tudor. Marius Niculae evened the match when he headed a corner from Emil Barbu past Jamie Langfield in first half injury time. The second half was hard fought as Romania was determined not to fall without a fight. We won the match when Graham Anderson, who had subbed on for tiring Kenny Miller, hit a rocket of a volley on a corner from McKeown and sailed the shot past Tudor for the match winner. The fans were on their feet as the final whistle sounded- celebrating our winning the Group and advancing to World Cup play. In other Group play- France handily defeated Slovenia 3-0 at St.Denis to qualify for the Playoff round. They drew a tough matchup in the Playoff as they will face Portugal. Estonia edged Malta 2-1 at Tallinn to finish off Malta's string of 10 consecutive Group losses. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 1, 2004 Author Share Posted May 1, 2004 12.11.13 Scotland Under-21 (3) Russia Under-21 (0) Scotland- S.McDonald 26 M.Anderson 67,88 Russia- None MOM- Mark Anderson, Scotland Scotland- Steven Henderson- 8 (Charlton), Derek Bruce- 9 , Iain Crawford- 7 , Mark McCall- 6, Darron Patton- 8, Alan O'Neil- 7, Garry Shearer- 7, Tom Smith- 9, Steven McDonald- 7, Derek Campbell- 7, Ian Gray- 7, John Duncan- 7 (on 60 for Campbell), Martin Bruce- 7 (on 60 for Gray), Graham Gallacher- 6 (on 60 for Shearer, Newcastle), Mark Anderson- 9 (on 60 for Smith), Paul Elliott- 8 (on 60 for McDonald), Garry Smith- 7 (on 60 for O'Neill), Jim Bruce- 7 (on 69 for Garry Smith) The Under-21 side's final match of 2013 also represented a beginning of the changing of the guard for them too. With several players moving beyond age eligibility and many raw youngsters seeking spots on next year's squad- this would be the final edition of the club as currently balanced. They went out with a bang as they easily rolled over the Russian youngsters in front of a mostly full Celtic Park. Steven McDonald notched the first goal after keeper Oleg Abramov fumbled a shot from Tom Smith. Mark Anderson, another developing talent that may see a Cap or two in the near future, subbed on for Smith and dominated the tiring Russian backline. He deflected a looping pass from Paul Elliott past Abramov for his first goal and then scored his second to close out our 3-0 win on a pass from Jim Bruce. *** 13.11.13 Scotland (1) Russia (3) Scotland- S.Nicholas 66 Russia- U.Amirov 13,83 M.Izmailov 74 MOM- Ural Amirov, Russia Scotland- Michael McDonald- 7 (1st Cap), Stephen Crainey- 7, Alan Archibald- 8, Richard Montgomery- 8, Andrew Rollo- 8, Douglas Hutchinson- 7 (1st Cap), Ian Knox- 8, Barry Ferguson- 7, Stephen Pearson- 7, Kenny Miller- 7, Kiegan Parker- 7, Ross O'Donoghue- 7 (on 57 for Ferguson), Graham Anderson- 8 (on 57 for Parker), Steven Nicholas- 8 (on 57 for Miller), Robert McKeown- 7 (on 57 for Pearson), Mark McNeil- 7 (on 57 for Hutchinson), Philip McGuire- 7 (on 57 for Archibald) With our last match of 2013, I tried to mix in some fresh blood to the lineup, but it didn't work out particularly well. The tenor of the match was changed early on when Ian Knox appeared to have become the youngest Scot to ever score an International goal- only to see it waved off when Douglas Hutchinson was ruled offside. Shortly after that, venerable Ural Amirov took advantage of spotty midfield coverage to bank in a 20 yard shot past Michael McDonald. We pressured them throughout the remainder of the first half and to start the second half, but could not find a way to score. At 66 minutes Knox made a beautiful through ball and Steven Nicholas had an easy time finishing his 10th International goal to bring us back to 1-1. Unfortunately, that was our high water mark for the match, and the visitors found McDonald all too easy to solve in his first Cap- scoring a pair of second half goals that would likely have not been goals against Langfield, Brownie or Jim McLeod. It was a valuable learning experience for the club, but a rather unsatisfying home loss- even if it was only a friendly. *** The draw for the playoff ended up costing France dearly as they lost a wild 4-3 match at Lisbon on the 2nd leg of the playoff. The result meant they were out of the World Cup on a 5-4 aggregate and they were left regretting the late goal by Miguel Coelho that snatched their advancement on away goals away from them in Portugal after Steed Malbranque had scored a late goal to even the match at 3-3. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 2, 2004 Author Share Posted May 2, 2004 The World Cup Grouping draw was interesting and we wound up with Brazil, Sierra Leone and U.A.E. as the other members in our Group. The FA expected us to reach the second round and those expectations matched my own. Group G appeared to be the 'Group of Death'- featuring Holland, Portugal, USA and resurgent South Korea. As we moved toward the end of the SPL season and towards the pair of friendlies scheduled with Greece before the World Cup begins, we also had the Group draw for the European Championships. We wound up Grouped with Portugal, Russia, Azerbaijan and Israel in what appears to be one of the toughest Group draws. 21.3.14 Greece 'B' (0) Scotland 'B' (3) Greece- None Scotland- P.Findlay 45,63 S.Lynch 90 MOM- Paul Findlay, Scotland Scotland 'B'- Paul Sinclair- 7, Steven Hammell- 8, Scott Watson- 7, John McPherson- 7, John Clarke- 9, James O'Brien- 7, Peter Young- 7, Craig Cargill- 7, Robert McKeown- 7, David Bremner- 8, Gary O'Connor- 7, Paul Findlay- 10 (on 32 for Young), Daniel Ogunmade- 8 (on 57 for Bremner), Simon Lynch- 7 (on 57 for O'Connor), Douglas Hutchinson- 7 (on 57 for O'Brien), Paul Rudden- 7 (on 57 for McKeown), Christopher McGregor- 7 (on 57 for Cargill) With the World Cup upcoming, the entire B side was out to make a good impression- and make their case for inclusion on the National side. Paul Findlay, the 28 year old winger from Crewe, certainly made the best possible impression. He subbed on for Peter Young after Young's ankle gave out on him and proceeded to control the match. He scored the first goal to end a bitterly disputed first half when he had all the time in the world to pick his shot location when left alone in front and he picked off a loose ball. In the second half he continued to cause problems for the Greeks and scored his second goal off an excellent left side run and shot that he bounced in off the underside of the crossbar. Simon Lynch capped our scoring when he smashed home a shot after Findlay laid the ball off for him. *** 22.3.14 Greece (1) Scotland (3) Greece- K.Karagiannis 26 Scotland- A.Rollo 23-P S.Pearson 28 R.O'Donoghue 66 MOM- Alan Archibald, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 8, Stephen Crainey- 8, Alan Archibald- 9, Jim Reid- 7, Andrew Rollo- 8, Michael Stewart- 6, Stephen Pearson- 8, Barry Ferguson- 8, Mark Kerr- 6, Kenny Miller- 7, Kiegan Parker- 5, Graham Anderson- 7 (on 61 for Parker), Martin Bruce- 6 (on 61 for Miller, 1st Cap), Ross O'Donoghue- 7 (on 61 for Pearson), Alan O'Neill- 7 (on 61 for Stewart, 1st Cap), Stephen Hughes- 7 (on 61 for Ferguson), Paul Elliott- 7 (on 61 for Kerr), Richard Montgomery- 7 (on 61 for Archibald), Philip McGuire- 6 (on 61 for Reid) In our first of two trips to Athens (we had another friendly here in a month's time), we were a bit ragged in the early going. Neither club had a shot on goal in the first 20 minutes of play as both clubs struggled to get some offensive consistency. Our first chance was when Kenny Miller broke in and as he danced past keeper Michalis Mouselimis the keeper pulled him down to earn a yellow card. Andrew Rollo converted the penalty kick to give us a 1-0 lead, but the lead lasted only moments as Kostas Karagiannis picked up a loose ball after a block tackle and slotted it past Jamie Langfield for his 1st International goal. We rallied back and struck again when Stephen Pearson deflected a Barry Ferguson free kick past Mouselimis to send us to the dressing room with a 2-1 halftime lead. With both clubs subbing liberally in the second half it was Ross O'Donoghue who capped off the match scoring as he fired a low, hard shot past Mouselimis. Greece rallied before the urging of their fans, but Langfield slammed the door the rest of the way to finish out the 3-1 friendly win. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 3, 2004 Author Share Posted May 3, 2004 22.4.14 Greece 'B' (1) Scotland 'B' (2) Greece- P.Bronowicki 69 Scotland- D.Bremner 31 J.McPherson 34 MOM- Steven Fraser, Scotland Scotland 'B'- Paul Sinclair- 7, Steven Hammell- 8, Scott Martin- 7, John McPherson- 8, John Clarke- 7, James O'Brien- 7, Mark Morrison- 6, Steven Fraser- 9, Paul McMillan- 8, David Bremner- 8, Gary O'Connor- 7, Simon Lynch- 7 (on 57 for O'Connor), Craig Cargill- 6 (on 57 for Bremner), Willie Howie- 7 (on 57 for Fraser, 1st B appearance), Christopher McGregor- 7 (on 57 for McMillan), Robert McKeown- 6 (on 57 for Morrison), Douglas Hutchinson- 6 (on 57 for O'Brien), Jamie McCunnie- 7 (on 57 for Clarke) We showed Greece a completely new attacking midfield this time around and Steven Fraser showed why he must be considered for the National side. Fraser, a 24 year old who is just starting to make waves in Ipswich, dominated the match when he was playing. He also drew the redcard from Giannis Grigoraidis in the 4th minute of play as the Greek hacked him down from behind in front of the referee- who was forced to call it. We struck for our goals in quick succession as David Bremner (another under strong consideration for the National side) swept in a rebound after Morrison's hard shot was parried. John McPherson capped a superb passing sequence with a rocket shot after taking a short cross from Fraser. Our attacking format backfired in the 2nd half when Greece sprung a counterattack and Pawel Bronowicki made a highlight reel run past three of our defenders before launching a left footed blast past Paul Sinclair. We put the clamps on them after that goal and finished out the 2-1 win. *** 23.4.14 Greece (0) Scotland (0) Greece- None Scotland- None MOM- Michalis Mouselimis, Greece Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 8, Stephen Crainey- 6, Alan Archibald- 8, Philip McGuire- 8, Andrew Rollo- 7, Michael Stewart- 7, Stephen Pearson- 7, Ian Knox- 7, Mark Kerr- 5, Kenny Miller- 7, Shaun Maloney- 6, Graham Anderson- 6 (on 54 for Maloney), Kiegan Parker- 8 (on 54 for Miller), Ross O'Donoghue- 7 (on 54 for Pearson), Alan O'Neill- 7 (on 54 for Stewart), Stephen Hughes- 7 (on 54 for Knox), Darren Fletcher- 7 (on 54 for Kerr), Richard Montgomery- 6 (on 54 for McGuire), Robert Malcolm- 7 (on 54 for Crainey, 1st Cap) In our last tuneup before we faced Brazil to open the World Cup we played a half-hearted match in Athens. About the only good thing we took away from our scoreless draw with Greece was the fact that we needed to play much better if we wanted to have any chance against Brazil. We had intermittent pressure on Michalis Mouselimis during the match and he came up with a couple dazzling saves against us, but overall our play was very lackluster. The biggest disappointment for me was seeing Mark Kerr again play poorly. His last couple efforts would place him on the bench against Brazil- instead of in the starting lineup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 4, 2004 Author Share Posted May 4, 2004 10.5.14 In the SPL, Kilmarnock's 3-0 win over Celtic was enough to push them past Motherwell to capture the SPL crown for the first time since 1965. Kilmarnock had finished 3rd last season. Motherwell was only able to manage a 1-1 draw hosting Hearts- when a win would have given them the title on goal differential. The shocking result of the season was the Rangers tumbling to 8th place- as their age finally caught up with them. *** 14.5.14 Club Brugge defeated Boavista 3-1 to capture the UEFA Cup in Amsterdam. The large crowd was fully for the Belgian side in the match. *** 25.5.14 Rosenborg stunned heavily favored Inter to win the Champions Cup at Hampden Park. I went to watch the match and it was a taut affair. Inter was hampered by the redcard handed out to defender Davide Caurla in the 3rd minute of play for a vicious two-footed tackle. The match winner was scored by defender Helge Overby in the 77th minute when he dribbled past Julius Aghahowa and fired a low shot past Raimondo de Oliveira for the lone goal in the match. *** The Scotland squad selected for the World Cup was: GK- Jamie Langfield, Jim McLeod, Mark Brown Defenders- Stephen Crainey, Andrew Rollo, Alan Archibald, Philip McGuire, Richard Montgomery, Robert Malcolm, Scott Martin Midfielders- Michael Stewart, Barry Ferguson, Ian Knox, Stephen Pearson, Ross O'Donoghue, Mark Kerr, Darren Fletcher, Shaun Maloney, Stephen Hughes Forwards- Kenny Miller, Kiegan Parker, Graham Anderson, David Bremner Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 5, 2004 Author Share Posted May 5, 2004 15.6.14 National Stadium, Kabul, Switzerland Scotland (1) Brazil (0) Scotland- B.Ferguson 74 Brazil- None MOM- Fabio, Brazil Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 8, Stephen Crainey- 7, Alan Archibald- 7, Philip McGuire- 8, Andrew Rollo- 9, Michael Stewart- 8, Stephen Pearson- 7, Barry Ferguson- 8, Ian Knox- 7, Kenny Miller- 7, Kiegan Parker- 7 (No subs) It was certainly a big upset- on a par with the biggest one in the tourney before this- Austria's 2-1 win over Italy. The biggest thing that people forget about this match is that we really controlled most of the match. No one remembers that we outshot them 18-9 for the match or that their keeper Fabio was the one who kept them in the match. That's Ok though, if they only remember Barry Ferguson's terrific goal- that is enough. They might remember how unlucky he was before he scored- he had hit the crossbar twice and the post once. Barry's terrific run through the heart of their defense is one of those shining moments in Scot football lore, and he deserves all the drinks they still buy him. The reason he was able to do it- was that Brazilian Manager Vadao had just committed them to a more attacking formation and they were just a bit off-balance when Barry took the ball and danced through them. The reason why Vadao was forced to do that is the untold story of the match- that we had altered our attack and that was completely frustrating them. We couldn't stay with them pace-wise so we were playing a more laid back attack and covering sideline to sideline much more thoroughly than in our normal set. In effect we took their brilliant wingers out of the match and funneled their offense into the center- the heart of our defense. Jamie Langfield deserves credit too- he made some sensational saves on Ronaldinho and Luisao. When Barry scored- you could sense the bolt of confidence we received. We had to survive their furious last minute rally, but when that final whistle blew, well you could see our players looking at each other in amazement at the accomplishment of beating the club favored by most to win the Cup. U.A.E. and Sierra Leone had fought to a scoreless draw in the other Group match. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 6, 2004 Author Share Posted May 6, 2004 21.6.14 La Maladiere, Neuchatel, Switzerland Sierra Leone (0) Scotland (4) Sierra Leone- None Scotland- K.Miller 24 B.Ferguson 44 S.Hughes 70 R.O'Donoghue 87 MOM- Barry Ferguson, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 8, Stephen Crainey- 6, Alan Archibald- 8, Philip McGuire- 6, Andrew Rollo- 7, Michael Stewart- 8, Stephen Pearson- 7, Barry Ferguson- 9, Ian Knox- 8, Kenny Miller- 9, Kiegan Parker- 9, Stephen Hughes- 9 (on 61 for Ferguson), Ross O'Donoghue- 8 (on 61 for Pearson), Scott Martin- 7 (on 79 for Stewart) The task going into our match with Sierra Leone was simple- win and we would be very well set for advancing, especially if Brazil beat U.A.E. as expected in the next day's match. With that goal before us, it wasn't difficult to get execution. Barry Ferguson was the leader again and he squared the ball for Kenny Miller to score the first goal. He then made another dazzling run through their defense and whipped a shot past Kelfaa Marah to put us up 2-0 at halftime. The first portion of the second half was played without a lot of verve by either side. That changed with our subs, as Stephen Hughes scored when he headed a cross from Andrew Rollo home. Ross O'Donoghue finished off our impressive 4-0 win when his cannon shot free kick zipped past Marah. As expected, Brazil crushed U.A.E. by a 3-1 score (only allowing them one shot) and we became the first club to qualify from Group play. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian of Nazareth Posted May 6, 2004 Share Posted May 6, 2004 Congratulations on the win against Brazil - a fantastic result and you should be into the second round now really - congratulations - excellent story too may I add Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 7, 2004 Author Share Posted May 7, 2004 Thanks BoN- and yes we are on to the 2nd round *** 27.6.14 Allmend, Lucerne U.A.E. (0) Scotland (4) U.A.E.- None Scotland- K.Miller 13 K.Parker 53 I.Knox 54 S.Hughes 70 MOM- Kenny Miller, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 7, Stephen Crainey- 7, Alan Archibald- 8, Philip McGuire- 7, Andrew Rollo- 8, Scott Martin- 8, Stephen Pearson- 9, Barry Ferguson- 7, Ian Knox- 9, Kenny Miller- 10, Kiegan Parker- 10, Stephen Hughes- 8 (on 54 for Ferguson), Mark Kerr- 7 (on 54 for Pearson), Richard Montgomery- 6 (on 82 for Archibald) We knew a win or a draw in the match against U.A.E. would potentially give us a favorable opponent, so the boys were ready to play from the opening whistle. It was only 1-0 at halftime thanks to Kenny Miller volley past Borje Granue for his 20th International goal, but U.A.E. hadn't seen our end in the entire half. We limited them to one weak, wide shot for the entire match and then took advantage of our superior conditioning as we exploited them in the second half. Miller then made a looping pass that Kiegan Parker deflected past Granue for his 20th International goal- it was fitting that he and Miller accomplished their milestones in the same match. Ian Knox then showed why he is the future of Scottish football, when he picked up a loose ball and drilled it home for his 1st International goal- helping quiet all the critics who couldn't believe I had selected him for our WC starting lineup over the experience of Mark Kerr or Ross O'Donoghue. Stephen Hughes finished off the scoring in our 4-0 win as he took a pass from Miller and flicked it in off the post for his 10th International goal. It certainly was a match of milestones- including our reaching the 2nd round with the win. Brazil easily defeated Sierra Leone 6-0 to finish as the other qualifier from our Group. We drew a plucky USA side that had finished 2nd to Holland in their Group. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************************************************************ FIFA World Cup - Tuesday 1st July 2014 ************************************************************************************************ ================================================================================================ 2014 Tables ================================================================================================ Group A Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Poland 3 1 0 1 2 3 1 0 0 2 0 6 2nd Q Argentina 3 1 0 1 3 2 0 1 0 1 1 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Ukraine 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 2 1 4 4th Costa Rica 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 5 3 Group B Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Chile 3 1 0 1 2 4 1 0 0 3 1 6 2nd Q South Africa 3 1 1 0 6 3 0 0 1 1 2 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Ireland 3 0 0 1 1 2 1 1 0 4 1 4 4th Spain 3 0 0 1 1 3 1 0 1 4 6 3 Group C Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Colombia 3 1 0 0 5 4 1 1 0 6 2 7 2nd Q Nigeria 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 2 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Belgium 3 0 0 2 3 8 1 0 0 2 0 3 4th Switzerland 3 0 1 1 1 3 0 0 1 4 5 1 Group D Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q England 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 4 0 5 2nd Q Sweden 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 2 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Algeria 3 0 0 2 0 5 1 0 0 2 1 3 4th Peru 3 0 1 1 3 4 0 1 0 1 1 2 Group E Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Austria 3 2 0 0 4 2 1 0 0 2 1 9 2nd Q Italy 3 0 1 1 4 5 1 0 0 3 1 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Mexico 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 5 2 4th Japan 3 0 0 1 1 3 0 1 1 1 2 1 Group F Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Bulgaria 3 0 1 0 2 2 2 0 0 4 0 7 2nd Q China 3 1 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Germany 3 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 4 2 4 4th Tunisia 3 0 0 2 0 4 0 0 1 0 1 0 Group G Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Holland 3 1 1 0 4 1 1 0 0 3 0 7 2nd Q U.S.A. 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 2 4 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Portugal 3 1 0 1 4 2 0 1 0 1 1 4 4th South Korea 3 0 0 1 0 3 0 1 1 1 4 1 Group H Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Scotland 3 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 8 0 9 2nd Q Brazil 3 1 0 0 3 1 1 0 1 6 1 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd U.A.E. 3 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 1 1 3 1 4th Sierra Leone 3 0 0 2 0 10 0 1 0 0 0 1 </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 8, 2004 Author Share Posted May 8, 2004 29.6.14 Wankdorf, Bern Scotland (5) USA (1) Scotland- K.Parker 6,24 G.Anderson 66 P.McGuire 71 I.Knox 76 USA- S.Quaranta MOM- Kiegan Parker, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 8, Stephen Crainey- 8, Alan Archibald- 8, Philip McGuire- 9, Andrew Rollo- 8, Michael Stewart- 8, Stephen Pearson- 8, Barry Ferguson- 7, Ian Knox- 9, Kenny Miller- 6, Kiegan Parker- 9, Ross O'Donoghue- 7 (on 72 for Pearson), Mark Kerr- 7 (on 57 for Ferguson), Graham Anderson- 8 (on 22 for Miller) We had the jump against the Americans and Kiegan Parker gave us a quick lead when he deflected a cross from Stephen Crainey past Tim Howard in the early moments of the match. We suffered a bad loss though when Kenny Miller went out at 22 minutes with a twisted knee that would force him to miss the remainder of the Cup competition. Parker's 2nd goal was of the accidental variety and took a lot of the wind out of the American sails. Kiegan was trying to cross for Graham Anderson, but a gust of wind caught the ball and bent it past Howard into the upper corner of the net, tucked just inside the post. They fought back gamely though, pressing us hard, and were rewarded when their skipper Santino Quaranta picked off a loose ball and caught Jamie Langfield in no-man's land to bring them back to 2-1 at halftime. I didn't realize it til after the match, but that was also the 1st goal we had allowed in the Cup tourney to that point- a testament to the defensive effort we had been putting forth. We came out and gave the Americans no chances in the second half as we bottled them up in their end and pressured them into coverage mistakes. Mark Kerr beat Howard with a blast at 66 minutes- only to see it carom back off the cross bar. Their defense was caught standing around though as Graham Anderson whisked the ball past Howard to make our lead 3-1 and left Howard visibly upset with his defenders' nonchalance. Ian Knox's corner was an excellent outswinging ball and Philip McGuire outleaped Quaranta to knock it past Howard to make it 4-1. We finished off their spirit and the scoring in the match when Knox himself scored on a loose ball to make it 3 goals in a ten-minute span. The 5-1 win represented a fine effort on both sides of the ball for us and both the fans and the FA were pleased to be heading for the Quarter-finals. Other 2nd round results: Poland- 0 South Africa- 2 England- 1 Nigeria- 0 Austria- 2 China- 4 Chile- 0 Argentina- 1 Colombia- 0 Sweden- 1 Bulgaria- 0 Italy- 2 Holland- 0 Brazil- 2 Our win brought us a match-up against surprising China, which had dumped Austria- the other club besides us to win all their Group matches (in a difficult Group no less). It was obvious we couldn't take them lightly given their convincing win over Austria. We also suffered a loss when Alan Archibald was forced to return to Scotland to be with his wife, who had been hospitalized suddenly. One of the games frustrations- a Retiring player leaving in the middle of a World Cup????? I seriously doubt that would happen. It ruined Archibald's swan song as a player and left us short of defenders heading into the Quarter-final. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian of Nazareth Posted May 8, 2004 Share Posted May 8, 2004 I know it's so daft, had that happen before and he was my number one goalkeeper ) Still, the mighty Chinese next , here's hoping to an eventual final with England Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 9, 2004 Author Share Posted May 9, 2004 4.7.14 La Maladiere, Neuchatel- Quarter-finals China (0) Scotland (4) China- None Scotland- I.Knox 7,49 G.Anderson 33,66 MOM- Ian Knox, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 8, Stephen Crainey- 9, Richard Montgomery- 6, Philip McGuire- 8, Andrew Rollo- 8, Michael Stewart- 8, Stephen Pearson- 7, Barry Ferguson- 9, Ian Knox- 9, Graham Anderson- 10, Kiegan Parker- 8, Mark Kerr- 7 (on 60 for Pearson), Ross O'Donoghue- 7 (on 60 for Ferguson) After looking at the replay of the Austria match, it appeared they may have tried to finesse China too much- and paid dearly for that with incessant Chinese counter-attacks. We resolved not to take that same approach and attacked directly from the opening whistle. Barry Ferguson's brilliant pass allowed Ian Knox to deflect past keeper Liu Yunfei for another early lead for us. I don't know if they expected us to back off- it seemed like it- but instead we continually pressured them. We were able to go up 2-0 at halftime when Andrew Rollo put the ball down the right side for Kiegan Parker and Parker crossed to Graham Anderson. Anderson had a simple finish past Yunfei as they had left him unmarked. We gave them no chance to gain momentum in the second half as Anderson set up Knox nicely on a laid off ball and Ian wrong-footed it past the surprised Yunfei to make it 3-0. Anderson then capped his superb match by picking up a loose ball and moving past two defenders before slipping it under the diving Yunfei for his 2nd goal of the match. With the score 4-0, both sides were content to play out the remainder of the match and the final whistle sent us into the Semi-finals. Other Quarter-final Action: South Africa- 1 England- 2 Italy- 0 Brazil- 1 Argentina- 0 Sweden- 3 The draw handed the World Cup a tasty Semi-final as we would be matched up against England. Well, almost Brian... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 11, 2004 Author Share Posted May 11, 2004 A friend of mine sent me these. He couldn't be there in Switzerland and followed along on the Internet. He saved the summaries for me. 8.7.14 St. Jakob-Park, Basel- Semi-finals England- James Johnson (GK)- Ashley Cole (DL) Dave Walker (DC- EPL Player of the Year) Titus Bramble (DC) John Welsh (DR) Matt Etherington (ML) Stephen Schumacher (MC) Steven Gerrard (MC) Luke Chadwick (MR) Alan Smith (FL) Jermaine Dafoe (FR) Scotland- Jamie Langfield (GK) Stephen Crainey (DL) Richard Montgomery (DC) Philip McGuire (DC) Andrew Rollo (DR) Michael Stewart (DMC) Stephen Pearson (MC) Barry Ferguson (MC) Ian Knox (MC) Graham Anderson (FL) Kiegan Parker (FR) Minute-Play 1- SCO- Stewart low cross to the far post, Anderson there but wrong foots it and misses wide 4- ENG- Gerrard down low for Dafoe, push by Montgomery gives England a free kick 4- ENG- Etherington takes free kick, slightly deflected off the wall- a scramble but Ferguson clears it away and Scotland survives the pressure 5- SCO- Parker turns with the ball, sends it to unmarked Ferguson- Ferguson blast, Johnson pushes it around the post for a good save 7- SCO- Ferguson crosses to the far post, but Johnson leaps and snares it 7- ENG- Smith on the dribble- sends it across for Dafoe- Dafoe chips to Etherington, but Rollo gets above him and heads it away 15- ENG- Smith on the roll, goes past Montgomery- advances on Langfield, fierce shot, but Langfield parries it away 16- ENG- Walker brilliant through ball to Smith, Smith in on Langfield- Langfield pushes him as he tries to go around him- Whistle! Referee reaching for a card for Langfield- only a Yellow! Penalty kick for England Yellow Card- Jamie Langfield 16- ENG- Ashley Cole to take the Penalty- Easily by Langfield- GOAL!! Goal- England (1-0) Ashley Cole 18- ENG- Chadwick down the right side- sends it to Schumacher- Schumacher heads to Etherington, quickly back to Schumacher- Schumacher lays it off for lurking Dafoe- Dafoe hopeful shot!- Langfield saves, but ball rolls away- Gerrard first to it and shoots, but Langfield able to smother it 22- SCO- Anderson takes it down, Bramble challenges him- Anderson back for Ferguson- Ferguson rips a shot, but it sails well wide of the post 24- SCO- Crainey passes to Ferguson edge of the area- Ferguson crosses, but Johnson grabs it- Parker whistled for offside 25- SCO- Anderson for Parker on the run- Parker into the area, low shot- Johnson gets a full hand on it and bats it away 26- ENG- Walker passes to moving Bramble- Bramble a pretty 1-2 with Schumacher- Bramble's shot headed away by Crainey 30- SCO- Parker first to loose ball- Parker sets up Pearson in the area- Pearson free, but his low shot is well wide of the post 38- SCO- Crainey sends in from wide- Knox and Schumacher leap, Knox wins challenge to Anderson- Anderson's wrong footed volley wide of the post 44- SCO- Ferguson passes in toward Parker, but Johnson steps up and grabs it END First Half- England- 1 Scotland- 0 46- SCO- England playing a slower pace now- Crainey lobs ball for Stewart- Schumacher heads it away 48- SCO- Knox first to the loose ball, chips it for Montgomery- Montgomery flicks it on to Stewart- Stewart loops it to the left for a moving Crainey- Crainey spots Anderson and chips it for him- Anderson volleys- past Johnson! Goal! Dazzling sequence by Scotland Goal- Scotland (1-1) Graham Anderson 52- ENG- Substitutions on for England as they look to be sending more men forward ENG- Substitution Cherno Samba for Jermaine Dafoe ENG- Substitution Tony Taggert for Luke Chadwick 54- SCO- Anderson pushed by Welsh- whistle, Free kick coming for Scotland- Ferguson's booms it, but right to Johnson 58- ENG- Johnson plays it to Walker- whistle, the ball hit Walker in the arm for Scotland free kick 58- SCO- Ferguson free kick from the wing- Montgomery heads it down for Anderson, but Welsh block tackles it back to midfield 60- ENG- Schumacher moves past Pearson, past Stewart- Schumacher shoots a screamer, but Langfield gets fingertips on it to parry the ball wide 61- SCO- Ferguson plays a long pass for Parker, but Taggert heads it away- Walker heads the loose ball but it goes to Ferguson- Ferguson rising shot, just beyond Johnson's reach- Goal! Goal- Scotland (2-1) Barry Ferguson 63- SCO- England looking a bit desperate now as they trail for the first time- Parker passes to Ferguson just inside the edge of the area- Ferguson rising blast, Johnson great save! He got his hand up and pushed it over the crossbar 64- SCO- Ferguson will take the corner- Ferguson inswinging ball- Stewart up with Walker for it- Stewart solid header- but it caroms back off the crossbar! Knox there- Goal! Knox was johnny-on-the-spot to rap in the rebound before anyone could recover- a stunning blow to England Goal- Scotland (3-1) Ian Knox 72- SCO- England can't seem to get back on track after that last goal- Crainey forward for Pearson- Pearson on for Ferguson- Ferguson shot! Excellent save by Johnson as he snared the hard shot from Ferguson! 75- SCO- Ferguson on the move- Ferguson sends it in to six yard box for Stewart- Stewart heads it down for Knox- Knox blisters one! It goes past Johnson, but off the outside of the post! 78- ENG- Schumacher plays ball across for Taggert- Taggert short cross to near post- Samba heads it well! Langfield save! Langfield did well to turn that one away 79- ENG- Samba picks up loose ball- Samba booming blast! Well over the net as Samba's head is in his hands 81- ENG- England looks to be making their last substitution as they press forward ENG- Substitution- John Terry for Dave Walker 82- SCO- Stewart, long looping pass into the area- Pearson there and gets a head on it- Great save Johnson! Johnson knocked it wide of the net 83- SCO- Ferguson takes the corner- Ferguson sends outswinging corner- Bramble blocks it away from Parker 89- ENG- Gerrard pushing forward- Montgomery jostles him- whistle! Looks like referee fishing for a card! Yellow Card- Richard Montgomery 89- ENG- Etherington free kick- deflected away by wall 90- ENG- Etherington across to Taggert- Taggert zips pass to Smith- Smith a neat pass to Samba in the area- Rollo great play! Rollo stepped in front of the pass and knocked it back to midfield 90- SCO- Stewart holding the ball, can only be moments away- Yes! Scotland will play in the Finals! You know, most of that match was a blur for me. I remember a big sigh of relief when Jamie Langfield only received a yellow card in the first half- I thought for sure it was going to be a red one. The entire first half was frustrating as we had some decent chances- but we looked very jittery shooting the ball, as we weren't even close to the net on most of them. We needed a spark in the second half and got it right away on the passing play that ended with Anderson's volley. Anderson had been really stepping up to fill in for Kenny Miller and his goal was a huge one. Many people don't remember that we altered our defense slightly after Anderson scored. I was certain England would be coming full bore, so we tried to cover their wingers better after equalizing and it worked very well- they didn't factor in the rest of the match. Barry Ferguson gave us the goal we were depending on him to manufacture, when he made that shot past Johnson. The third goal I think was still because England was a bit in shock at being behind and were too eager to press forward. Stewart really deserved the goal, but I am glad Ian knocked it in after it carromed. It was a great win for all of us- and Scotland. I didn't realize it until a reporter asked about it afterwards, but Knox's goal was his 5th and broke the Scotland record for goals. We settled down the next night and watched Brazil take apart Sweden 3-0 behind a hat-trick by Ronaldinho to bring about a rematch of our first Cup match. The press were quite taken by the fact of the rematch and that two clubs from one Group were the survivors dueling for the World Cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 12, 2004 Author Share Posted May 12, 2004 England edged Sweden 1-0 on a Cherno Samba goal to finish 3rd in the Cup. 13.7.14 Wankdorf, Bern Brazil- Fabio (GK) Luisao (DC) Wescley (DC) Fabricio da Silva Rodrigues (DC) Cassio (DML) Mancine (DMR) Saulo dos Santos (MC) Bruno (MC) Ronaldinho (AMC) Flavio Ferreira Lima (FL) Wesley de Souza Soares (FR) Scotland- Jamie Langfield (GK) Stephen Crainey (DL) Richard Montgomery (DC) Philip McGuire (DC) Andrew Rollo (DR) Michael Stewart (DMC) Stephen Pearson (MC) Barry Ferguson (MC) Ian Knox (MC) Graham Anderson (FL) Kiegan Parker (FR) Minute-Play 2- BRA- Ronaldinho breaks through the midfield, in clean on Langfield- Ronaldinho hard shot! Dazzling save by Langfield! 4- BRA- dos Santos over for Cassio- Cassio chips it toward Mancine- Mancine outleaps Crainey and heads it to Ronaldinho- Ronaldinho booming shot! Just wide of the post! Brazil has the jump in the early going as Scotland struggle to cope with the pace of play 5- SCO- Knox sends it for Ferguson- whistle as Wescley jostles Ferguson- Crainey the free kick, fires it low but deflected by the wall and Bruno knocks it to midfield 5- BRA- de Souza Soares down the right side- sends it for Ferreira Lima- Ferreira Lima on the dribble, whistle on Crainey for obstructing Ferreira Lima, looks like he's due a card. Yellow Card- Stephen Crainey 6- BRA- de Souza Soares with the freekick- booming blast, Langfield makes a good save- Wait! Referee ordering a rekick! de Souza Soares again- cannon shot!- Great save Langfield! Langfield got a hand on it and pushed it wide of the post 7- BRA- dos Santos takes the corner- dos Santos inswinging corner, Wescley soars but forces it just over the bar, Crainey and Ferguson pressured him on that one 8- BRA- Intense pressure by Brazil as Scotland tries to weather the fury- Bruno moving past Knox- Bruno still on the ball in the area- Bruno slots the ball for Ronaldinho- Ronaldinho drills it- Goal! It was past Langfield before he could react. Goal- Brazil (1-0) Ronaldinho 19- BRA- Bruno to Cassio- Cassio quickly moves it on to Ferreira Lima- Ferreira Lima rising shot- Langfield makes the save! Langfield pushed it over the bar 20- SCO- Rollo moving down the right- Rollo slides it across for Crainey- Crainey chips it for Pearson- Pearson finds Anderson with a searching pass- Anderson tries to lay it off for trailing Knox, but Ferreira Lima steps in and intercepts 20- BRA- Ferreira Lima moves it quickly to Ronaldinho- Stewart challenges, whistle and referee reaching for a card Yellow Card- Michael Stewart 23- BRA- Ronaldinho on the move- takes the ball by Stewart, excellent sliding tackle from Knox 24- BRA- Wescley throws it in- Cassio crosses to the left post- Ferreira Lima there, but his header knicks the bar and goes over 31- BRA- Cassio finds Bruno on the move- Bruno inside the area- Bruno a fierce shot! Langfield parries it and McGuire sweeps it away! 33- SCO- Rollo under Cassio's attentions, but shrugs off his tackle attempt- Rollo floats it in on the right- Knox knocks it across for Anderson- Anderson's header! Good save by Fabio, as he pushed it past the post 34- SCO- Ferguson with the corner- Ferguson hits an inswinging corner- Parker beats Ronaldinho in the air- Parker solid header- Struck the outside of the post and over the line 38- BRA- dos Santos on a nice left side run- dos Santos sends it in for Ferreira Lima- Ferreira Lima wheels with it and his hard shot is in! Goal! Langfield got a piece of the ball, but it trickled in for Ferreira Lima's 10th International goal Goal- Brazil (2-0) Flavio Ferreira Lima END First Half Brazil- 2 Scotland- 0 47- SCO- Scotland up against it in the second half after being dominated in the opening stanza, looks like a substitution for the Scots- it appears that Barry Ferguson, clearly laboring, will be replaced- a huge hand from the Scot crowd, who know they might be looking at Ferguson's last appearance as a player SCO- Substitution Stephen Hughes for Barry Ferguson 55- SCO- Scotland is trying to rise to the attack, but Brazil is clearly content blunting their efforts in the midfield, it appears Scotland will change its formation and push Hughes and Stewart further forward 63- SCO- Rollo advancing down the right with Cassio dogging him closely- Rollo breaks free and makes hard cross to the middle- Stewart first to the ball- it's past Fabio! Goal! Goal- Scotland (1-2) Michael Stewart 68- SCO- Crainey breaks free down the left side- Crainey crosses smartly- Hughes there first- Hughes header skims the crossbar and over! 69- BRA- It looks like some substitutions coming on for Brazil BRA- Substitution Gustavo for da Silva Rodrigues BRA- Substitution Ventura for Ronaldinho 71- SCO- Stewart outleaps dos Santos and heads forward- Hughes up and heads to Parker- Parker dives, but his header well wide of the post 72- BRA- de Souza Soares squares it for Ventura- Ventura takes a pot-shot- Langfield easily gathers it in 74- BRA- Bruno past Montgomery- Bruno past backtracking Crainey- Bruno great run! Shot! Just over the bar! 77- BRA- Wescley hurting, looks like he will have to leave- Brazil will sub BRA- Substitution Fabiano Magalhaes for Wescley 84- BRA- Cassio for Bruno on the run- Bruno quick pass to de Souza Soares- de Souza Soares banana shot- just wide! 87- BRA- de Souza Soares for Ventura- McGuire makes a two-footed challenge, uh-oh looks like a card from the referee for that one! Yes, it is a redcard for McGuire! Red Card- Philip McGuire SCO- Substitution Mark Kerr for Kiegan Parker 90- BRA- Brazil has been playing keep away with their ball movement and Scotland is at a loss with being a man short and lacking Brazil's pace- time must be almost gone now- Yes, Final Whistle and Brazil wins another World Cup! MOM- Flavio Ferreira Lima, Brazil Sure, it was disappointing to lose. We gave it our best effort though. I was really sorry for Barry Ferguson- he had been our leader in the Cup competition and just plain ran out of gas against the pace that Brazil showed us. We tried to close them down, but their talent was evident and we couldn't cover them as tightly as when we beat them- they did a much better job of moving the ball quickly and their pace made it tough to deal with them. Still, we had great chances to even the match up and I still thought we might, until McGuire's red card. It was a worthy World Cup Final and I couldn't have been prouder of the boys. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 12, 2004 Author Share Posted May 12, 2004 20.3.15 Scotland Under-21 (5) Azerbaijan Under-21 (1) Scotland- S.Burns 35,51, 63, 74-P D.Paton 57 Azerbaijan- S.Vasilyev 45 MOM- Stephen Burns, Scotland Scotland- Kevin Ferguson- 7 , Paul Ferguson- 7 , John Gallacher- 6 , Mark McCall- 7, Kevin Henderson- 7 , Darren Paton- 9 , Garry Shearer- 9 , John Whiteford- 9, Steven McDonald- 7 , Stephen Burns- 10 , Ian Gray- 7, Derek Gibson- 8 (on 57 for Gray), James Millar- 7 (on 57 for J.Gallacher- Derby) After struggling through a listless first half, our Under-21 side exploded against visiting Azerbaijan in the second half. Or rather, Stephen Burns exploded- scoring 4 goals in the match and making his case for a future spot on the Senior side. Burns had our lone goal of the first half when he scored on a diving header from a Garry Shearer cross. Azerbaijan evened things in injury time as Said Vasilyev gathered up a loose ball and rifled it past Kevin Ferguson. Going into the second half, we emphasized using our pace advantage and superior ball movement. It worked well as they had no one who could stay with Stephen Burns (who is also doing well in SPL play). Burns put us back into the lead when he made a short dribble in the area and launched a rocket past Mais Poshehontsev. Darren Paton made it 3-1 when he whisked in a rebound and then Burns finished his hat-trick by taking a through ball from John Whiteford and hammering it home. Burns capped his fine match with his 4th goal as he converted a penalty kick after Nadjafov pushed Derek Gibson in the area on a corner. *** 21.3.15 Scotland (6) Azerbaijan (2) Scotland- S.Duncan 9 G.Anderson 14,19,33 C.Cargill 54 P.Elliott 80 Azerbaijan- S.Hammad 16 O.Walling 66 MOM- Steve Duncan, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 6, Derek Bruce- 9 (1st Cap), Jim Reid- 6, Steven Brown- 7, Andrew Rollo- 9, Mark McNeil- 7, Ian Knox- 8, Paul Elliott- 9, Craig Cargill- 10 (1st Cap), Steve Duncan- 10, Graham Anderson- 10, Darren Fletcher- 7 (on 63 for Knox), Martin Cameron- 7 (on 63 for Anderson- 1st Cap) We faced weak-sister Azerbaijan at Hampden Park and it was a good time to bring on a younger lineup (also we suffered a spate of injuries to the elder statesmen on the Senior side). The younger lineup performed pretty well offensively, but our defensive play was lacklustre and it was a good thing they only scored two, as we yielded many more chances than we should have to them. Steve Duncan gave us a quick lead off a nice pass from Paul Elliott and then it was off to the races for Graham Anderson. Anderson was setup nicely by Duncan for his first goal, but Azerbaijan quickly drew one back when Salim Hammad found Jamie Langfield out of position and lobbed it over him. Anderson quickly returned the 2-goal margin when he deflected a Craig Cargill cross past Mubaraz Niftaliev. Anderson then finished a quick hat-trick as he took a cross from Derek Bruce and buried it with a rising shot. Cargill scored in his International debut to start the second half when he headed home a cross from Andrew Rollo. Our defense completely overlooked Oleg Walling and he easily sent the ball past Langfield to make it 5-2. Paul Elliott deservedly capped the scoring when he took a pass from Mark McNeil and wheeled it past Niftaliev to make the final score 6-2. Israel added to Portugal's woes by battling to a 1-1 draw in Tel Aviv. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 14, 2004 Author Share Posted May 14, 2004 24.3.15 Scotland Under-21 (4) Russia Under-21 (0) Scotland- M.McCall 4 D.Paton 39,51 S.Burns 57 Russia- None MOM- John Whiteford, Scotland Scotland- Kevin Ferguson- 7 , Derek Smith- 7 , John Gallacher- 6 , Mark McCall- 7, Kevin Henderson- 8 , Darren Paton- 9 , Garry Shearer- 7 , John Whiteford- 10, Steven McDonald- 8 , Stephen Burns- 8 , Ian Gray- 8 (No subs used) John Whiteford continued to demonstrate he stands head and shoulders above most players at his age as he led the Under 21 side to an easy win over the visiting Russians. Mark McCall got us off to a fast start when he deflected Steven McDonald's corner past Ruslan Sadykov. Darren Paton's first goal also came on a McDonald corner to give us a 2-0 halftime lead. Paton scored his second goal on a rebound after Sadykov had parried Ian Gray's initial blast. Stephen Burns caught Sadykov out of position and looped a header over him into the corner of the net off of a nice cross from Whiteford to finish off the scoring in our 4-0 win. *** 25.3.15 Scotland (0) Russia (1) Scotland- None Russia- M.Izmailov 72 MOM- Andrey Lozhkin, Russia Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 8, Derek Bruce- 8, Jim Reid- 7, Philip McGuire- 7, Andrew Rollo- 8, Mark McNeil- 7, Ian Knox- 6, Paul Elliott- 7, Stephen Pearson- 7, Steve Duncan- 7, Graham Anderson- 8, Ross O'Donoghue- 7 (on 60 for Pearson), Michael Stewart- 6 (on 60 for McNeil) In a match that we had to win to have a chance of overtaking Russia for the automatic qualifying spot from the Group, we came up short. The heavy experience of the Russian club was an advantage over our younger lineup in this match- that and the fact that they knew they could be extremely patient since a draw would suit them as well as a win. We pressured their backline throughout the match, but behind linchpin Andrey Lozhkin they kept blunting our attacks. When we did get good chances- their keeper Nikolay Filimonov was right there to keep the ball out of the net. The lone goal in the match came when they caught us pressing forward and made a good counter-attack. Andrey Ovsyannikov made a long, searching 30 yard pass that Marat Izmailov outleaped Jim Reid for- he knocked it past a diving Jamie Langfield for the decider in their 1-0 win. The win meant that Russia would almost certainly finish atop the Group, but we were still in a good position in 2nd for the Playoff Qualifier. Israel beat Azerbaijan 3-0 to move into 3rd place in the Group, but that was their last easy match- as they face the teeth of the Group for the remainder of the way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 14, 2004 Author Share Posted May 14, 2004 21.4.15 Scotland Under-21 (4) Greece Under-21 (0) Scotland- D.Paton 45 K.Cook 66 T.Smith 71 D.Gibson 85 Greece- None MOM- Derek Smith, Scotland Scotland- Kevin Ferguson- 8 , Derek Smith- 9 , John Gallacher- 6 , Mark McCall- 7, Kevin Henderson- 8 , Darren Paton- 7 , Garry Shearer- 7 , John Whiteford- 7, Steven McDonald- 7 , Stephen Burns- 7 , Ian Gray- 7, Derek Gibson- 9 (on 59 for Burns), Mark Higgins- 8 (on 59 for Gray), Tom Smith- 8 (on 59 for Whiteford), Graeme Wilson- 9 (on 59 for Shearer), Kevin Cook- 9 (on 59 for McDonald), Paul Ferguson- 8 (on 59 for Paton) The first half was rather boring as the Greece side was committed to a blanketing defense and content to not take any chances on the offensive side of the football. We finally managed to bludgeon our way to a goal when Daron Paton outleaped a pair of defenders to deflect a corner from Steven McDonald past Ilias Adoniadis in first half injury time. The complexion of the match changed when Giorgis Karyofillis was redcarded early in the second half. The Greek defensive scheme faltered and we took advantage as crisp passing set up goals by Kevin Cook, Tom Smith and Derek Gibson to finish off our 4-0 win. The Greek side didn't manage a shot on goal for the entire match. *** 22.4.15 Scotland (1) Greece (1) Scotland- K.Parker 84 Greece- G.Papadakis 17 MOM- Jim Reid, Scotland Scotland- Jim MacLeod- 8, Derek Bruce- 6, Jim Reid- 9, Steven Brown- 5, Andrew Rollo- 8, Mark McNeil- 8, Ian Knox- 6, Paul Elliott- 7, Craig Cargill- 6, Graeme Whyte- 7 (1st Cap), Martin Bruce- 6, Kiegan Parker- 8 (on 56 for Bruce), Martin Cameron- 7 (on 56 for Whyte), Ross O'Donoghue- 8 (on 56 for Elliott), Stephen Pearson- 7 (on 56 for Knox), Darren Fletcher- 7 (on 56 for Cargill), Michael Stewart- 8 (on 56 for McNeil), Stephen Cameron- 6 (on 56 for Brown), Robert Malcolm- 7 (on 56 for Bruce) Our younger lineup didn't fare too well against a cagey Greek squad in the early going. Greece exploited Steven Brown on the backline and Giorgis Papadakis had an easy time twisting him into a pretzel on his dribble, before he fired a high shot past Jim MacLeod. With our vets on in the 2nd half, we rallied and Kiegan Parker scored a late equalizer with a nice lob over Antonis Voulgaris to give us the 1-1 draw. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 Faramir, I'm one of the 'invaders' from the Out of the Park Baseball community (admittedly only had that game for a month now). The buying of them by SI triggered my memory of Championship Manager which I always was vaguely curious about in spite of not really being a big soc... er... football... fan. Given I'm not much of a baseball fanatic in the real world but love baseball sims, I decided to do what I normally do when trying to decide if a game is worthwhile.. which is to read 'stories' (at least once I got through the registration process... too bad SI hasn't made this forum readable to guests as I'm sure I'm not the only one to casually browse story/dynasty/franchise threads for games I'm curious about). Long story made a li'l less long, if not exactly short, your recap of your days at Motherwell and the rise to the National team was the capper on my decision. Ordered it online, got it today.. A bit overwhelming but looks as great as I expected. Kudos on a great story that helps bring out the strengths of the game to convince someone who's only interest in that football sport was having played it once after having a few beers and deciding the best tactic was to kick the ball in the middle (since I was seeing three of them) and vaguely watching a world cup match or two and trying to figure out why people get so excited at 0-0 draws when there weren't even any pointless fights on the field as in hockey (though the ones in the stands kinda scared me...)... err, where was I again? Oh yeah, kudos on convincing someone otherwise not really enthralled with the real thing to give the game a shot. Now.... Go Scotland! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 15, 2004 Author Share Posted May 15, 2004 gambler- wow Your tale is a bit humbling *chuckle* I am glad you enjoyed the story- though to be honest I think 'The Bet' is a better overall story (Troubled Visions will be in time- but with how long that the Lord of the Rings Challenge will be- the story will be parcelled out). I actually started out just like you (though my roots go back to CM 2). I had a friend, whose opinion I respected a lot, tell me that I would really enjoy CM- even though I knew very little about football (well, soccer here in America). Once I started out- I haven't stopped since I am a huge baseball fan though, and the addition of OOTP to the mix is great news in my estimation. Since I played Ice Hockey for 20 years- also looking forward to EHM. Thanks again for the kind words, and start penning your own stories here- newcomers always welcome And now back to my story.... *** 2.6.15 Switzerland Under-21 (0) Scotland Under-21 (5) Switzerland- None Scotland- J.Whiteford 10 S.McDonald 13 G.Shearer 42 D.Clarke 57 K.Robertson 80 MOM- Steven McDonald, Scotland Scotland- Kevin Ferguson- 7 , Derek Kerr- 7 (Celtic) , John Gallacher- 8 , Mark McCall- 7, Kevin Henderson- 7 , Darren Paton- 8 , Garry Shearer- 8 , John Whiteford- 9, Steven McDonald- 10 , David Clarke- 8 , Ian Gray- 7, Mark Anderson- 7 (on 58 for Whiteford), Paul Ferguson- 8 (on 58 for Shearer), James Millar- 6 (on 91 for McCall), Kevin Robertson- 7 (on 58 for Gray- Rangers), Gary Mitchell- 7 (on 58 for Clarke- Hibs) It was another impressive display by the youngsters as we rolled over Switzerland in Bern. Our midfield of Whiteford, McDonald and Shearer keyed the win as they continually pressured the Swiss backline (I know- but I will avoid the 'swiss cheese' jokes that were much in prevelance following the match). Whiteford and McDonald struck for a pair of early goals, both coming off runs from just inside midfield. Shearer then added a natty run of his own to put us up 3-0 at half. David Clarke added a volley off a corner from McDonald and then Kevin Robertson knocked in our final goal off an excellent pass from Paul Ferguson to finish off our satisfying 5-0 win. *** 3.6.15 Switzerland (1) Scotland (1) Switzerland- M.Kottman 38 Scotland- A.Rollo 20-P MOM- Marcel Kottman, Switzerland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 7, Derek Bruce- 8, Jim Reid- 7, John McPherson- 7 (1st Cap), Andrew Rollo- 8, Mark McNeil- 7, Ian Knox- 8, Paul Elliott- 7, Stephen Pearson- 7, Graham Anderson- 7, Martin Cameron- 7, Kiegan Parker- 6 (on 59 for Cameron), Martin Bruce- 7 (on 59 for Anderson), Shaun Maloney- 6 (on 59 for Elliott), Mark Kerr- 7 (on 59 for Pearson), Darren Fletcher- 7 (on 59 for Knox), Scott Martin- 7 (on 59 for McNeil), Robert Malcolm- 7 (on 59 for D.Bruce) Switzerland had no intention of being embarrassed like we did the last time we faced them- for a friendly they took the match deadly serious. We held the early advantage when Andrew Rollo converted the penalty kick after Graham Anderson was bumped in the air on a corner. They evened things up when Marcel Kottman boomed in a 20 yard free kick. We played pretty well offensively, but their keeper Adrian Walker was very sharp that day and though we outshot them 18-4 for the match, we had to settle for the 1-1 draw. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 16, 2004 Author Share Posted May 16, 2004 4.9.15 Israel Under 21 (0) Scotland Under-21 (4) Israel- None Scotland- D.Clarke 17,21 I.Gray 42 J.Whiteford 45 MOM- David Clarke, Scotland Scotland- Kevin Ferguson- 7 , Derek Kerr- 7 , John Gallacher- 7 , Mark McCall- 7, Billy Baxter- 8 (Kilmarnock) , Darren Paton- 10 , Graeme Wilson- 8 , John Whiteford- 9, Steven McDonald- 7 , David Clarke- 10 , Ian Gray- 9, Tom Smith- 7 (on 59 for Whiteford), James Millar- 6 (on 59 for McCall) It was a clinical display of football for the first half of our Under-21 match in Tel Aviv. David Clarke led off the scoring by being first to a loose ball and firing it past Udi Levi. Clarke quickly added his 2nd marker of the match off a nice pass from Darron Paton. Ian Gray added our 3rd goal when he took a pass from Whiteford and marched past two defenders for an easy goal. Whiteford then capped the explosive first half when Paton found him on the dead run and he motored past two defenders before slotting the goal home. The second half was much quieter as neither club had the kind of offensive verve we showed in the first half and we closed out our 4-0 win by limiting them to one shot. *** 5.9.07 Israel (0) Scotland (2) Israel- None Scotland- S.Duncan 38 K.Parker 59 MOM- Jamie Langfield, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 9, Stephen Crainey- 7, Richard Montgomery- 7, Philip McGuire- 8, Andrew Rollo- 8, Mark McNeil- 7, Ian Knox- 8, Paul Elliott- 7, Stephen Pearson- 7, Graham Anderson- 6, Steve Duncan- 8, Kiegan Parker- 8 (on 58 for Anderson), Mark Kerr- 7 (on 58 for Pearson) This may well have been the match where all our youthful additions started coming of age. We were starting a very young lineup for this key match against Israel in Tel Aviv. Israel knew going in that only a win would keep their chances of finishing 2nd in our Group alive- as we were 3 points ahead of them and had match in hand. The youngsters, especially Ian Knox and Steve Duncan kept their composure in the rough play early in the first half and then Duncan struck to give us the lead on a superb cross from Knox. With Israel pressing us hard, we had to lean heavily on Jamie Langfield and he came up with all the big stops to keep us in the lead. Our cagey vets then helped ensure the win. Almost immediately after they subbed on together- Mark Kerr lofted a precision cross that Kiegan Parker deflected past Hezy Cohen to give us the breathing room we needed. We played with more confidence from there on out and finished out the 2-0 win. Portugal beat Russia 2-1 in Lisbon to setup a showdown match with us for 2nd place in the Group. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 17, 2004 Author Share Posted May 17, 2004 8.9.15 Scotland Under-21 (1) Portugal Under-21 (1) Scotland- S.McDonald 79 Portugal- Magalhaes 82 MOM- Kevin Ferguson, Scotland Scotland- Kevin Ferguson- 8 , Derek Kerr- 8 , John Gallacher- 7 , Mark McCall- 6, Billy Baxter- 6, Darren Paton- 8 , Graeme Wilson- 6 , John Whiteford- 7, Steven McDonald- 7 , David Clarke- 7 , Ian Gray- 7, Paul Ferguson- 6 (on 62 for Wilson), Mark Anderson- 6 (on 62 for Whiteford) Things looked grim early on as we faced Portugal in our Under-21 match. Billy Baxter lost his temper and earned 2 quick yellow cards and an early shower at the 6 minute mark. Portugal swarmed us while we tried to get organized, but Kevin Ferguson was outstanding and we survived their fury to go to halftime scoreless. In the second half, we started generating a few chances and one of them paid off when Steven McDonald (who had moved back to cover rightback) jumped into the play and blistered a shot from just inside the edge of the area past Pedro Freitas. Unfortunately, we couldn't hold off the inevitable rally and Magalhaes scored a dazzling goal with a banana kick past Ferguson. We finished out the 1-1 draw, content with the effort and determination shown by our youngsters. *** 9.9.15 Scotland (0) Portugal (0) Scotland- None Portugal- None MOM- Nuno, Portugal Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 8, Stephen Crainey- 8, Richard Montgomery- 8, Philip McGuire- 8, Andrew Rollo- 8, Mark McNeil- 8, Ian Knox- 7, Paul Elliott- 7, Stephen Pearson- 7, Graham Anderson- 7, Steve Duncan- 7, Kiegan Parker- 7 (on 58 for Anderson), Mark Kerr- 7 (on 58 for Pearson) The battle with Portugal at Hampden Park had everything a football fan could want- except scoring. Nuno and Jamie Langfield held a sensational clinic on how to play the net as both refused to yield a goal. Both sides had plenty of good chances. Portugal would feel very unlucky in that they managed to hit the post three times in the early going in the first half, but of course none went in. We had many good chances, but our best was the Mark Kerr to Kiegan Parker combination just after they subbed on (in a repeat of the Israel match). Kerr crossed smartly and Kiegan got a good head on the ball, but Nuno got his fingertips on it and pushed it over the bar. When the final whistle sounded, I felt we had survived and was pleased with the scoreless draw. It left us in great position to make the playoffs as all we needed was a win at Azerbaijan to finish 2nd in the Group and Azerbaijan had lost against Russia in the other match to set a Qualifying record of 13 straight defeats. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 18, 2004 Author Share Posted May 18, 2004 9.10.15 Azerbaijan Under-21 (1) Scotland Under-21 (6) Azerbaijan- M.Mihart 37 Scotland- S.Burns 2,52-P,55 M.Anderson 7 J.Whiteford 32 M.Higgins 43 MOM- Mark Higgins, Scotland Scotland- Kevin Ferguson- 7 , Derek Kerr- 8 , Stephen Rea- 6 (Dundee), Brian Brown- 7 (Rangers), Billy Baxter- 8, Darren Paton- 8 , Mark Anderson- 10 , John Whiteford- 9, Steven McDonald- 10 , Stephen Burns- 10, Mark Higgins- 10 (no subs) Our Under-21 side blitzed the very young Azerbaijan Under-21 squad. We held a 4-1 halftime lead that were all on headers from Stephen Burns, Mark Anderson, John Whiteford and Mark Higgins. Burns added an early 2nd half penalty kick after Higgins was taken down in the area and then completed his hat-trick with a volley off a corner from Steven McDonald. It was a solid performance in our 6-1 road win. *** 10.10.15 Azerbaijan (2) Scotland (3) Azerbaijan- O.Walling 45 M.Haque 76 Scotland- M.Kerr 6 I.Duncan 9 P.Elliott 90 MOM- Andrew Rollo, Scotland Scotland- Jim MacLeod- 7, Derek Bruce- 9, Jim Reid- 6, Philip McGuire- 6, Andrew Rollo- 9, Mark McNeil- 9, Mark Kerr- 8, Paul Elliott- 8, Stephen Pearson- 8, Ian Duncan- 8 (1st Cap), Steve Duncan- 8, Kiegan Parker- 6 (on 62 for Ian Duncan), Darren Fletcher- 7 (on 62 for Kerr) In what was almost a disastrous match for us at Baku, Paul Elliott pulled our chestnuts out of the fire with a brilliant goal in second half injury time to win the match for us. We took Azerbaijan way too lightly, especially after a pair of early goals by Mark Kerr and Ian Duncan (in his debut). It looked like we might rout them, but instead their keeper- Fessel Coad- steadied and kept us from scoring more. They got one back in first half injury time when Jim MacLeod let a shot get away from him and Oleg Walling pounced on the rebound. We hammered away at Coad, trying to increase the lead in the second half, but instead it was Azerbaijan who evened things when Miroslav Haque outleaped Philip McGuire to head a Marcelo Novaku corner past MacLeod. You could sense a bit of our desperation as a draw would keep us out of the Playoffs (we knew Portugal had already beaten Israel). Just moments into injury time, it was Elliott who shook free of his marker and took an excellent pass from Andrew Rollo. He wheeled and smashed it past Coad to give us the win. We had three possible penalties that weren't called, an indication that the referee was not quite in favor of infuriating the 35000 fans who were hoping to see Azerbaijan break their losing string. The win sends us into the playoffs against Turkey. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 13.11.15 Turkey Under-21 (0) Scotland Under-21 (4) Turkey- None Scotland- M.Higgins 2,16 S.Burns 45,82 MOM- Stephen Burns, Scotland Scotland- Kevin Ferguson- 8 , Derek Kerr- 6 , Stephen Rea- 6, Brian Brown- 6, Billy Baxter- 8, Darren Paton- 9 , Graeme Wilson- 7, John Whiteford- 8, Steven McDonald- 8, Stephen Burns- 10, Mark Higgins- 10 (no subs) The Turkish Under-21 side had no luck in handling our tandem of Stephen Burns and Mark Higgins as they could not effectively mark either of them and we took full advantage of that fact. Burns scored his pair of goals in the early stages of the first half- one off a nice pass from Darron Paton, the other on a perfectly laid off ball from John Whiteford. Higgins added his first goal in first half injury time when he deflected a corner from Steven McDonald in to give us a 3-0 halftime margin. Higgins added his 2nd goal of the match late in the second half when he was lurking and able to pounce on a rebound and slip it into the open net. The youngsters were really happy with how well they fared in front of a very hostile Turkish crowd, something the Senior side would see as well. *** 14.11.15 Turkey (0) Scotland (3) European Championship Qualifying 1st Leg Turkey- None Scotland- I.Duncan 34,68 P.Elliott 48 MOM- Ian Duncan, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 7, Derek Bruce- 7, Richard Montgomery- 8, Steven Brown- 7, Andrew Rollo- 8, Mark McNeil- 7, Mark Kerr- 9, Paul Elliott- 8, Stephen Pearson- 6, Ian Duncan- 10, Steve Duncan- 7, Stephen Cameron- 6 (on 65 for McNeil), Darren Fletcher- 7 (on 65 for Pearson) Sometimes the unlikliest heroes arise, and that was the case of Ian Duncan for us. Nobody expected me to select him for the National side- much less for him to be starting. Why did I? Because I was looking for an accomplished goal scorer and he was really the only top-rated Scot that had proven he could score at any level of play. Sure, he was on lightly regarded Division 1 St.Mirren- but I was convinced he was just a natural scorer, and that is what I needed up front to pair with talented Steve Duncan. Ian proved me right when he absolutely crushed that free kick past Caliskan Caner to give us the lead in the first half. That moment was definately a turning point in the match, because up until then all we had managed to do was earn 4 yellow cards in the space of the first 25 minutes and things were looking a bit gloomy with the tight reins of the ref and our inability to get our passing attack moving. The entire club loosened up after Ian's goal- and though we didn't score again in the first half it carried over past halftime. Mark Kerr had one of his finest matches ever on the International scene and it was his brilliant pass that sprung Paul Elliott for an easy goal in the opening moments of the second half. With two away goals in hand, we concentrated on closing down the most imposing of the Turks- forward Fevzi Sadat- who had caused us lots of problems in the first half. While we were doing that we managed one more counterattack and took full advantage when skipper Andrew Rollo crossed and Ian Duncan headed it past Caner for his 2nd goal of the match. We played tough defensively from that point and despite the Turks attempts to at least gain a consolation goal- Jamie Langfield kept the clean sheet. The 3-0 win set us up nicely for the 2nd leg at Hampden Park. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 20, 2004 Author Share Posted May 20, 2004 17.11.15 Scotland Under-21 (4) Turkey Under-21 (1) Scotland- M.Higgins 26,47 S.Burns 16,53-P Turkey- Y.Yassin 87 MOM- Mark Higgins, Scotland Scotland- Kevin Ferguson- 8 , Derek Kerr- 7 , Stephen Rea- 8, James Taylor- 7 (Cambridge), Billy Baxter- 8, Paul Ferguson- 7, Graeme Wilson- 7, Tom Smith- 9, Steven McDonald- 7, Stephen Burns- 8, Mark Higgins- 10, Kevin Cook- 7 (on 59 for McDonald) It worked so well the first time around, we just kept working the ball into Mark Higgins and Stephen Burns and once again they carried us to a win. Just as in the first match, the Turkish backline could not keep the tandem under wraps. Tom Smith's fine pass to Stephen Burns set him up for an easy goal to start us. Higgins added his first goal on a short cross from Smith. In the opening moments of the second half, Higgins struck for his 2nd goal of the match as he deflected a short chip from Graeme Wilson into the far corner of the net. Burns then added his 2nd of the match when he converted the penalty kick after Wilson was knocked down in the area. We couldn't keep the clean sheet this time as promising forward Yassir Yassin outpaced two defenders before rocketing a shot past Kevin Ferguson in the late stages. The 4-1 win pleased the crowd that watched the match at Celtic Park. *** 18.11.15 Scotland (2) Turkey (3) European Championship Qualifying 2nd Leg- Scotland Qualifies 5-3 aggregate Scotland- S.Duncan 76-P,90-P Turkey- T.Serdal 45 O.Atilla 51,67 MOM- Eren Metin, Turkey Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 6, Derek Bruce- 7, Jim Reid- 6, Steven Brown- 7, Andrew Rollo- 7, Stephen Cameron- 6, Mark Kerr- 6, Shaun Maloney- 7, Stephen Pearson- 7, Ian Duncan- 7, Steve Duncan- 8, Mark McNeil- 7 (on 54 for Cameron), Paul Elliott- 7 (on 54 for Pearson) Yes, you're right- our youthful side showed up in the 2nd Leg. We only needed a strong defensive performance and due to all the yellow cards in the match before- many of our best defenders were out- or I was trying to get through the match without playing them (McNeil and Elliott...). It turned out to be a poor idea. It looked like we would make it through the first half unscathed, thanks to fine work from Jamie Langfield, but suddenly Turkey had a foot in the door when Topcu Serdal headed past Langfield in injury time and it was only 3-1. You could sense the apprehension going into the second half. That apprehension, on both the staff and squad seemed warranted when Eren Metin's sizzling cross was headed past Langfield by Ozen Atilla. Suddenly, we were only up one goal, and it was time to try and get our offense moving- so I subbed on Paul Elliott and Mark McNeil to try and steady things. It didn't work. Unsal Mustafa made a nice run down the right wing and crossed from the baseline. Atilla outleaped Jim Reid and you could the groan of the crowd as Langfield got a hand on it- but not enough to keep it from going into the net. Turkey had come all the way back and evened the match with 3 away goals. If they scored another, it would certainly have doomed us- since we would have had to win outright. Then the referee made his presence felt. Mark Kerr flicked a ball forward for Ian Duncan just outside the area and it looked like Duncan would have a good chance when he reached it first. Young defender Ahmet Cem grabbed hold of Ian's jersey in desperation and was given a redcard for his choice. I motioned for our club to move more to the attack. With Turkey still a bit disorganized with a man less, Shaun Maloney made a left side run and slipped the ball in to Mark McNeil. McNeil only made two steps before Ekrem Suleyman tripped him, but those steps put him inside the area and Suleyman's yellow card gave us a penalty kick. Steve Duncan looked like an old pro, instead of a youngster, as he hammered the penalty past Caliskan Caner- and just like that we were back on top on aggregate. Not wanting to give away a chance of a counterattack for them, we altered our formation to close down the wings. While we were trying to hold the ball, we gained a late corner. Steve Duncan sent an outswinging corner that Mark Kerr was set to deflect- until Uzun Sadat pushed him. Steve Duncan once again converted the penalty kick and with a 5-3 aggregate lead we were finally able to close out the determined Turks. The crowd at Hampden Park gave the visitors a deserved hand- as they had made a wonderful effort, but we were on our way to the European Championships. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 21, 2004 Author Share Posted May 21, 2004 25.3.16 Scotland 'B' (0) Ireland 'B' (1) Scotland- None Ireland- P.O'Connor 52 MOM- Mark Connolly, Ireland Scotland- Michael McDonald- 7, Steven Hammell- 6, Scott Watson- 7, John McPherson- 7, Jamie McCunnie- 6, James O'Brien- 7, Peter Young- 7, Robert McKeown- 7, Mark Morrison- 7, Billy O'Neal- 7, Martin Bruce- 8, Douglas Hutchinson- 7 (on 68 for O'Brien), John Clarke- 7 (on 68 for Hammell), Ross O'Donoghue- 7 (on 68 for Young), Kevin Cook- 7 (on 68 for McKeown) Our 'B' side played pretty well as we hosted the Shamrocks from Ireland in a friendly. But, despite outshooting them and outplaying them in a majority of the match, we wound up on the wrong side of a close 1-0 decision. The lone goal of the match came when Mark Connolly sent a searching cross and Pat O'Connor was on hand to deflect it past McDonald. We stirred the crowd as we tried to rally, but Tony Sullivan had all the answers in net for them and they kept the clean sheet in the 1-0 loss. *** 26.3.16 Scotland (0) Ireland (3) Scotland- None Ireland- C.Murphy 3-P, J.Cassidy 29 D.Scully 54 MOM- John Paul Cassidy, Ireland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 7, Stephen Crainey- 7, Brian Brown- 5 (1st Cap), Steven Brown- 6, Andrew Rollo- 7, Darren Paton- 5 (1st Cap), Garry Shearer- 7 (1st Cap), Paul Elliott- 7, Ian Knox- 7, Ian Duncan- 6, Steve Duncan- 6, Ian Gray- 6 (on 52 for Ian Duncan- 1st Cap), Mark Anderson- 7 (on 52 for Steve Duncan- 1st Cap), Steven Fraser- 7 (on 52 for Shearer- 1st Cap), Darren Fletcher- 7 (on 52 for Elliott), Steven McDonald- 7 (on 52 for Knox- 1st Cap), Richard Montgomery- 7 (on 52 for Brown), Kevin Henderson- 6 (on 52 for Rollo- 1st Cap), Mark McNeil- 6 (on 52 for Paton) While it was a nice glimpse at our future- the youngsters did rather poorly as we hosted Ireland for a friendly. Despite the fact that most of them had played together, we were completely disjointed a majority of the match, and the veteran Irish squad made us pay for our mistakes. 19 year old Brian Brown was especially jittery and had a terrible time of things from the opening whistle on. He fouled John Paul Cassidy in the area and Colin Murphy converted the ensuing penalty to give the visitors a quick lead. Alan Browne then made a nice through ball and Cassidy zoomed past Brown before firing it past Jamie Langfield. We fared a little better in the 2nd half, as the only marker came from the Irish when Damien Scully hit a fierce shot past Langfield on a nice pass from Cassidy. It was a learning experience, but not one I cared to repeat anytime soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 24, 2004 Author Share Posted May 24, 2004 26.4.16 Scotland 'B' (1) Hungary 'B' (0) Scotland- G.O'Connor 79 Hungary- None MOM- Gary Farrell, Scotland Scotland- James Dock- 7, Andrew McDonald- 8, Scott Watson- 7, John McPherson- 7, Jamie McCunnie- 6, James O'Brien- 8, Ross O'Donoghue- 8, Christopher McGregor- 7, Gary Farrell- 8, Gary O'Connor- 8, Martin Bruce- 8 (no subs used) The 'B' side looked much sharper as we dominated visiting Hungary, but were only able to manage a 1-0 win due to good work from their keeper Tamas Korsos. Gary O'Connor scored the lone goal of the match in the second half when he volleyed past Korsos on a good, short pass from Gary Farrell. Martin Bruce was left feeling a bit snake bit, as Korsos stopped him three seperate times on good opportunities. *** 27.4.16 Scotland (2) Hungary (1) Scotland- P.Elliott 28 D.Fletcher 90 Hungary- P.Biro 90 MOM- Garry Shearer, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 7, Derek Bruce- 8, Brian Brown- 7, Steven Brown- 6, Andrew Rollo- 7, Darren Paton- 7, Garry Shearer- 9, Paul Elliott- 8, Ian Knox- 7, Ian Duncan- 7, Steve Duncan- 7, Ian Gray- 8 (on 59 for Ian Duncan), Mark Anderson- 7 (on 59 for Steve Duncan), Steven Fraser- 7 (on 59 for Shearer), Darren Fletcher- 8 (on 35 for Elliott), Steven McDonald- 8 (on 59 for Knox), Richard Montgomery- 7 (on 59 for Brown), Mark McNeil- 7 (on 59 for Paton) With many International debuts out of the way in the loss to Ireland, the youngsters played a much more steady match as we hosted Hungary in a friendly. Paul Elliott gave us the first half lead when he danced around Tamas Balog and scored after Garry Shearer had magically delivered a pass to him through a crowd. We pressured them through most of the remainder of the match, but weren't successful in scoring. Late in the second half, they put forth a furious rally and managed to even the match just in the opening minute of injury time when Peter Biro rapped home a rebound past Jamie Langfield. Just as quickly we came back with the match winner when Ian Gray's blast got away from Balog and Darren Fletcher chipped it in to give us the exciting 2-1 win. **** Celtic wound up winning the SPL for the first time in 15 seasons. They finished ahead of the pack of clubs that were within 3 points of each other in places 2-5. Kilmarnock finished 2nd, Dundee United 3rd, Rangers 4th and Motherwell 5th. *** Our squad for the 2016 European Championships was: GK- Jamie Langfield, Jim MacLeod, Paul Sinclair (25 yr old Celtic keeper- not yet capped) Defense- Stephen Crainey, Richard Montgomery, Philip McGuire, Andrew Rollo, Derek Bruce, Kevin Henderson, Brian Brown (at 19 one of the youngest players in the tourney, but also had earned SPL Player of the Year honors), Steven Brown Midfield- Ian Knox, Paul Elliott, Stephen Pearson, Mark Kerr, Ross O'Donoghue, Shaun Maloney, Darren Fletcher Forwards- Steve Duncan, Ian Duncan, Kiegan Parker, Mark Anderson It was a mixture of players likely making their last International appearances (36 yr olds McGuire, Langfield- 34 yr olds Crainey, Kerr, Parker, Montgomery) and the products of the Scot youth movement (19 yr old Brian Brown- 21 yr olds Knox, Henderson, Anderson- 24 yr olds Elliott, Steven Brown, Bruce and Steve Duncan). I hoped that I had the right mix going into the tournament, but I wasn't at all sure. We were cast into Group 1 with England- Yugolavia- Poland. This certainly didn't seem an easy Group at first glance, because both Poland and Yugoslavia weren't slouches and England was still England. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 25, 2004 Author Share Posted May 25, 2004 EUROS *** 13.6.16 Gradski Stadion Sartid 1813, Smederevo, Yugoslavia Scotland (1) Poland (1) Scotland- A.Rollo 8 Poland- P.Brozek 7 MOM- Jamie Langfield, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 9 Stephen Crainey- 7 Richard Montgomery- 8, Philip McGuire- 8, Andrew Rollo- 7, Mark McNeil- 8, Stephen Pearson- 7, Paul Elliott- 7, Ian Knox- 6, Steve Duncan- 7, Ian Duncan- 6, Ross O'Donoghue- 7 (on 25 for Knox), Kiegan Parker- 6 (on 52 for Ian Duncan) Jamie Langfield saved our bacon in that first match against Poland. Despite Pawel Brozek making a curling shot past Langfield, we felt pretty good and Andrew Rollo blistered a volley on a pass from Mark McNeil past Marcin Jacinski to quickly equalize things. Rollo's free kick was our last offense of the match though. When Ian Knox went down, boy you could feel the wind disappear from our sails. Knox was the man the Scot press was trumpeting that would lead us- after all he had helped get us through to the World Cup Finals. Instead, midway through the first half of our first match, he was injured and everyone knew when they carted him off that he was out for the rest of the tournament. Without his offensive explosiveness we fell completely flat against a very good Polish side. They were all over our end for the rest of the match- they ended up outshooting us 18-4 for the match. But Jamie wouldn't yield. Both Richard Montgomery and Philip McGuire did an excellent job policing the area in front of Langfield and disposing of any rebounds he gave up. In the end Langfield stymied the good Polish forward tandem of Brozek and Robert Jablonski and we escaped with a 1-1 draw. In the other Group match Cup Host Yugoslavia managed to battle England to a scoreless draw. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 26, 2004 Author Share Posted May 26, 2004 16.6.16 Stadion Crvene Zvezde-Markana, Belgrade, Yugoslavia England (1) Scotland (4) England- B.Ellis 48 Scotland- A.Rollo 3 S.Duncan 49,58 D.Fletcher 79 MOM- Darren Fletcher, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 8 Stephen Crainey- 6 Richard Montgomery- 7, Philip McGuire- 9, Andrew Rollo- 8, Mark McNeil- 7, Mark Kerr- 6, Paul Elliott- 9, Darren Fletcher- 10, Steve Duncan- 8, Ian Duncan- 8, Ross O'Donoghue- 7 (on 78 for Kerr), Steven Brown- 8 (on 30 for Montgomery) Veteran leadership- that is what about tournaments at the level of European Championships and World Cups are about. With Knox out, we knew it would be a tough battle against our bitter foes. This was the match of the first round- the biggest rivalry- and it was going to be televised all over Europe. I talked to Darren Fletcher before the match, when I let him know he would be starting in place of Knox, we talked about how he needed to be an impact player- to take some of the pressure off our young playmaker Paul Elliott. All credit to him- Darren stepped up and helped carry us - he really earned the boost in everyone's eyes that he received from his performance. We stunned England in the early going when skipper Andrew Rollo boomed a free kick past James Johnson. England pressured us, but we kept consistently counterattacking them in the first half- so the match had a wonderfully balletic flow to it- it must have been fun to watch, well somewhere besides on the sideline that is. Johnson steadied and we couldn't score on him again. Jamie Langfield was also again providing yeoman work in our net- and we kept the 1-0 lead going to the dressing room. England came out renewed in the second half- as we had warned the boys they would- and Christopher Downey zipped a pass that their fine midfielder Barry Ellis volleyed past Langfield to have them back to 1-1 in the opening moments. It was a great sign of the heart that we had when Mark Kerr got up to intercept Downey's clearing kick moments later. Kerr headed to Elliott, who knifed through their midfield, and made a picture-perfect pass to Steve Duncan, who had slipped his marker. Duncan chipped the ball past Johnson, who was a bit slow to react to the play, and just like that- we had a 2-1 lead again and had crushed the sudden English momentum. Soon after Darren made his brilliant run. He went past Steve Rowland and Joe Cole at full speed with the ball and then found Steve Duncan, who again had slipped marking, and gave him a sensational cross. Duncan drove the ball past Johnson and we had a 3-1 lead and we could sense we had England in deep trouble. They started moving men up to the attack and we bided our time waiting for a counterattacking chance, while doing a good job in coverage. At 79 minutes, we got our chance when Elliott stepped in front of a pass for Ellis and was away. The English defense seemed to surge to him- and he slotted the ball nicely for Fletcher. Darren took the ball into the area and then drilled a low shot that caught Johnson flat-footed and beat him for our 4th goal. With the 4-1 lead, we worked hard and closed out our bitter rivals and kept the final 4-1 margin. The match cost us Richard Montgomery for the rest of the tournament when he went down with a calf injury. In the other Group match, Poland edged Yugoslavia 1-0 on a late goal and we were tied atop the Group. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian of Nazareth Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 I dunno whether to celebrate or cry... ah screw it - \o/ great win Ecosse come one at least a point in the next match. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 27, 2004 Author Share Posted May 27, 2004 Thanks Brian *** 21.6.16 Stadion Crvene Zvezde-Markana, Belgrade, Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (2) Scotland (2) Yugoslavia- D.Mijanovic 4 M.Lazic 72 Scotland- M.Kerr 6 I.Duncan 27 MOM- Jovan Rankovic, Yugoslavia Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 7 Stephen Crainey- 6 Brian Brown- 7, Philip McGuire- 8, Andrew Rollo- 6, Mark McNeil- 7, Mark Kerr- 7, Paul Elliott- 7, Darren Fletcher- 7, Steve Duncan- 7, Ian Duncan- 8, Kiegan Parker- 6 (on 72 for Steve Duncan), Stephen Pearson- 7 (on 67 for Kerr), Shaun Maloney- 7 (on 67 for Elliott) Our task against Yugoslavia was dreadfully simple- win or draw and we would move on to the Quarter-finals. If Yugoslavia won, they would move on instead of us. When Jamie Langfield let Dejan Mijanovic's shot trickle past him for the early goal- well it was tough. The crowd was electric and I was hoping the boys wouldn't rattle. I needn't have worried though as Mark Kerr scored one of the biggest goals of his illustrious career to even things two minutes later. It was just a loose ball, but Kerr's heads up awareness put him in the right place to reach the ball and hit a hard grass-cutter that eluded Miodrag Zivkovic and we were even at 1-1, with the crowd calming a bit. After several minutes of weathering their increased pressure, Mark McNeil started as pretty a passing sequence as you will see. McNeil chipped it out to Kerr on the left side. Kerr sent a sizzling pass across to Darren Fletcher who was just inside the area. Fletcher laid the ball off for Steve Duncan and Duncan sent the ball across into the six yard box. Ian Duncan dove and deflected the ball past Zivkovic to stun both their club and the crowd as we moved ahead 2-1. With them on their back feet now, we tried hard to land another goal before halftime, but couldn't find the range as we had good chances- but missed wide or high. The second half started quietly as the play tarried in the midfield for much of the opening moments, but then you could feel the momentum start to swing toward the home side. The fans were really into the match- it was among the loudest support I can remember during my managing- and they were a bit fresher than we were condition-wise. I tried subbing on Pearson and Maloney to regain some control of the play, but it didn't work and Miroslav Lazic made a nice run past a tired McGuire and beat Langfield cleanly to even the match at 2-2. With everything on the line, the boys gathered themselves and battled hard for every loose ball and refused to allow Yugoslavia room to manuever in our end. They may have controlled the ball, but they couldn't do anything with that control. Just as we moved into injury time, Slobodan Jovanovic outleaped a very tired Stephen Crainey. Jovanovic headed the ball to Bojan Djordjic, who crossed smartly to Predrag Kovacevic. Kovacevic got a good head on the ball, but Jamie Langfield made a brilliant save as he tipped the ball over the bar. That turned out to be their last good chance and we held on for the 2-2 draw that allowed us to move to the Quarterfinals. We suffered another key injury as we lost Steve Duncan for the rest of the tournament to an ankle injury. In the other Group match, Poland and England battled to a wild 3-3 draw on a late Polish equalizer. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************************************************************ European Football Championship - Wednesday 22nd June 2016 ************************************************************************************************ ================================================================================================ 2016 Tables ================================================================================================ Group 1 Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Scotland 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 6 3 5 2nd Q Poland 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 4 4 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Yugoslavia 3 0 2 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 2 4th England 3 0 1 1 4 7 0 1 0 0 0 2 Group 2 Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Italy 3 0 0 1 1 3 2 0 0 5 2 6 2nd Q Russia 3 0 2 0 2 2 1 0 0 3 1 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Finland 3 1 0 1 2 2 0 1 0 1 1 4 4th Norway 3 0 0 1 2 4 0 1 1 2 3 1 Group 3 Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Belgium 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 1 7 2nd Q Holland 3 1 0 1 2 1 1 0 0 3 1 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd France 3 1 0 1 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 4 4th Bosnia 3 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 2 0 4 0 Group 4 Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Denmark 3 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 3 0 7 2nd Q Ireland 3 0 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Germany 3 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 1 2 4 4th Greece 3 0 0 2 0 4 0 0 1 0 2 0 </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 28, 2004 Author Share Posted May 28, 2004 26.6.16 Gradski Stadion Sartid 1813, Smederevo, Yugoslavia European Championships Quarter-final Scotland (1) Russia (0) Scotland- D.Fletcher 57 Russian- None MOM- Darren Fletcher, Scotland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 7 Stephen Crainey- 8 Brian Brown- 8, Steven Brown- 8, Andrew Rollo- 9, Kevin Henderson- 8, Mark Kerr- 7, Paul Elliott- 7, Darren Fletcher- 9, Kiegan Parker- 6, Ian Duncan- 6, Stephen Pearson- 6 (on 62 for Kerr), Mark Anderson- 7 (on 80 for Parker) We were forced to go with a mish-mash lineup in the Quarter-final against Russia. Mark McNeil and Philip McGuire were both suspended for the match- due to yellow cards received against Yugoslavia. With Knox, Montgomery and Steve Duncan all out- we barely had enough for the sub bench. Kevin Henderson was replacing McNeil- and it would be a challenge for the youngster who had only been capped once before the tourney and had never played the role I was asking him to play. Steven Brown was filling in for McGuire. Russia was a very experienced squad- as we well knew from past meetings- they had beaten us twice in Group qualifying. Ian Duncan and Kiegan Parker had good chances for us in the opening moments of the first half, but Nikolay Filimonov kept both of them out. We spent the rest of the first half doggedly defending Jamie Langfield. Our midfield and backline did a good job of forcing them to take longer shots- and Langfield just kept gobbling them up. I was happy enough to go to the dressing room scoreless- but I knew we needed to show a bit more offensively, just to help take some of the pressure off Langfield. After Russia barely missed scoring twice at the start of the second half, it was Darren Fletcher's moment to be a hero. Fully against the run of their pressure- he picked up a ball just inside midfield and then beat a midfielder and defender before rocketing a shot past Filimonov. We battened down the hatches and defended staunchly as the Russians came at us in waves. When the final whistle blew- we still held our 1-0 margin and were moving on the Semi-finals. The other Quarter-final results were Ireland edging Belgium 1-0, Holland winning over Denmark 2-1 on a late goal, and Poland knocking out Italy on Penalties after a 1-1 regulation score. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted May 28, 2004 Author Share Posted May 28, 2004 No, I'm sorry. I don't have transcriptions of the European Champ Semi-final- like the ones for the World Cup- a friend who followed the WC on the Internet sent me those, but he was there in person when we faced Holland in the Semi-finals. 29.6.16 Gradski Stadion Sartid 1813, Smederevo, Yugoslavia European Championships Semi-final Scotland (0) Holland (1) Scotland- None Holland- M. van der Ven 90 MOM- Rene van Dijk, Holland Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 7 Stephen Crainey- 7 Brian Brown- 6, Philip McGuire- 8, Andrew Rollo- 6, Mark McNeil- 7, Mark Kerr- 5, Paul Elliott- 5, Darren Fletcher- 6, Kiegan Parker- 7, Ian Duncan- 5, Stephen Pearson- 5 (on 53 for Kerr), Steven Brown- 5 (on 32 for Parker) I was worried going into the Semifinals. Because of the injuries, our key players were close to running on fumes- Paul Elliott was very tired going into the match, but they all wanted to be out there- you couldn't doubt their heart and desire. Still, we had hope- and Jamie Langfield and I figured that gave us a chance. Hope left us early that match though- I still find it hard to believe that the referee could so blithely whip out a redcard- it was the Semi-finals for goodness sake! When it came out, not only was Andrew Rollo crestfallen- but the whole club was. Rollo had been the skipper for the entire time since I had taken over the National side and to see him walk off, it was painful to me- it was painful to them. I think even Holland had a bit of remorse watching him take the long walk. The fans couldn't see it- but there were tears in his eyes as he headed to the dressing room, he felt he had let the boys down. It took a lot of the soul of the side out when he left, beyond the fact we had to contend with Holland with only 10 men for another 60 minutes (off at the 30 minute mark). Still, I have to give them credit- our goal was to go to half scoreless and try to figure out what to do from there and they worked their best to get there. Through hard work and tough coverage- we went to halftime scoreless. The problems we faced at halftime were daunting- they were much fresher than we were (condition-wise) and they also had a significant edge in both pace and realistically in skill. All we could do was play solid in our end and hope we might spring an attack. They had none of that though, we really never got the chance to spring the attack- as their ball movement was excellent in the second half. The only thing that even kept us in the match was Jamie Langfield's superb play. I was dearly hoping that we could string things out to extra-time and penalties- that was the only way I thought we could win. It didn't happen. In the waning moments of extra time, PSV's brilliant Mario Robben (I thought of him as the heir to Seedorf) turned on the jets and went past our tired defenders. As Langfield challenged him, he crossed and it was Mario van der Ven who reached the ball for a tap into the open net. We were all numb as the final moments trickled away and the whistle sounded to send Holland to the Finals. *** When did I know? As soon as the final whistle sounded actually. You know who else realized it- he must have seen it in my eyes- Stephen Pearson. He came over and hugged me and I admit there were some tears there. We had started together 16 seasons ago at Motherwell- he was there when I gave my first talk to a bunch of believing, but slightly incredulous youngsters. I told them then that we would go out and prove Scots are the equal of any in football, but I know neither of us expected where that trail had led us. I had already gathered the words I would use when I made my statement retiring as Manager moments later in the press conference following the Semi-final. It was time for me to leave. The youngsters I had started out shepherding were dwindling as they ended their time in football. Now, the new batch of young Scot talent was on hand to carry the torch further- and rightfully I felt it should be another to lead them on to their own glory- I already had mine. Reaching the Finals of the World Cup and the Semifinals of European Championships were the crowning achievements for me- it was enough. I went back to the Castle- they had been trying to talk me back for a year or so. No, that would be such a stupid title- "Bellhorn's Bellows"- bah, what crap. "The Return of the Scots", better- but that really isn't true- I don't like it either. A suggestion? Hmm, how about what I told the young Motherwell boys long ago-- "We Were Lions". Ah, you like that- well good enough for a book title for me as well. No--- thank you! It was great to reminisce about all those wonderful times- I really enjoyed it! Old men are like that, you know. Yes, you can certainly make copies of anything here in the library, just let me know if you need anything more. The reporter stood and solemnly shook the hand of the elderly man, he could see the man's eyes were misted over with the sheen of undropped tears. One of the Castle's attendants came and gently wheeled the man back down the long corridor to his bedroom *** The End Thanks to everyone who stuck around- I certainly didn't want to go this long to finish the Challenge- but I didn't have much choice All the Best- Faramir Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian of Nazareth Posted May 29, 2004 Share Posted May 29, 2004 Congratulations Faramir, not quite the dream ending I suppose but still a fantastic read all the same. The reminisicing style worked a treat Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjorn Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 congratulations on a nice story and on completing the challenge Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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