For now, though, I wanted to recall a less positive time in the history of the Scotland side. On this date 15 years ago was one of Scotland’s worst losses ever. The 1994 World Cup qualifying campaign started as a mixed bag for Scotland. Our first match was a 3-1 loss in Switzerland, but as qualifying went on, the Swiss proved to be one of the better sides in Group 1, and the defeat didn’t seem so terrible. Two subsequent draws with Portugal and Italy had hopes a bit higher in Scotland, and on April 28th, 1993, we went to Lisbon to take on Portugal again. It had been nil-nil at Hampden, and no one could have expected the harsh reversal of the return leg. When it was all said and done, it was 5-0 to Portugal, and Scotland striker Ally McCoist was headed home with a broken leg that would keep him off the pitch for a year. Scotland’s hopes for a return to the World Cup were completely dashed, and manager Andy Roxbrough memorably called it “The Night A Team Died”.

I hope we’re never on the wrong end of a night like that again, but as World Cup qualifying gets closer and closer, it doesn’t hurt to remember the bad times along with the good, and remember how far we’ve come since.

Now that Euro 2008 is approaching fast, I’ll be splitting my World Cup Blog duties between this blog and the Romania World Cup Blog, which I will be representing for the tournament. With Scotland waiting this one out, and without even England to root against, I have to say I’m a bit of a neutral in this year’s Euros, but I’ll try to cover Romania as well as I can. I am a big fan of Adrian Mutu, and there’s a certain Inverness Caley Thistle striker to keep an eye on as well, so there are reasons to keep up with the Tricolorii. I’ll still try to be more regular at this post too, since Scotland will always be my first and foremost loyalty as a football supporter. Mon the Scots.

Croatia 1-1 Scotland, October 11 2000
Before Kevin Gallacher was a TV pundit or a best-selling author (I highly recommend his book “Tartan Turmoil”), he was a Scotland striker who represented his country at three major tournaments, two European championships and the 1998 World Cup. He did his part to return to football’s greatest stage when he equalized against Croatia in Zagreb, his ninth and final Scotland goal. However, it wouldn’t be enough, as we finished two points behind Belgium for the second spot in the group, despite being the only team in the group to avoid losing to group winners Croatia.

Scotland 0-0 Croatia, September 1 2001
Hampden was an unusually welcoming ground in the 2002 qualifiers, and as all Scotland fans know, when we don’t win at Hampden, we’re sunk. The qualifying campaign at Scotland’s home ground opened with a 2-2 draw with Belgium, and our finishing problems continued with a scoreless draw with the Croatians. A 4-0 win over San Marino and an embarrassingly close 2-1 over Latvia were not enough to move us on.

So, who will add their name to Gallacher’s and become only the second Scotland player to score against Croatia? We know it won’t be James McFadden, but considering their recent form, Steven Fletcher and Kris Boyd are both great candidates. The all-time head-to-head record is on the line. There’s nothing like as much on the line as the last time we met Croatia, but we still need to make sure Hampden is thought of as a fortress. Mon the Scots.