Allez Écosse…

11 months removed from what seemed like a dream result at Hampden against the French, today went one better with a fantastic 1-0 performance in Paris which surely seals the deal in Euro 2008 qualifying.

If you told me back when the draw was made that Scotland would be on top of a group that contained both World Cup finalists, 7 wins out of 9 games and held France to a 2-0 aggregate over 180 minutes, I probably would have laughed, it’s still insane to think of… So often we’re used to being the underdogs, going into the last few games hoping opponents slip up and we might scrape 2nd place and then we might get the 2nd weakest team (apart from us) in the playoffs. But no, we’re riding high, in control of our own destiny and loving every minute of it. It’s definitely a long way removed from the start of the infamous Berti Vogts era when the French stuffed us 5-0. I also love that the BBC have given our game pride of place with the headlines even though England just demolished Russia 3-0.

In my little corner of the world the excitement in the build-up was palpable… I couldn’t watch the game, I couldn’t even listen to it in English thanks to the BBC blacking out international listeners, so I had to listen on French radio, knowing just enough to get by, reading text updates on the BBC and when McFadden scored I bounced off my seat, almost screaming… I hate to think what my co-workers thought, didn’t care either. So bring on Ukraine and Georgia to set us up against World Champions Italy at Hampden, easy I tells you, 9 points in the bag. In fact, the Tartan Army better book hotels in Switzerland and Austria now, so to avoid the rush…