The Night A Team Died

Sorry about the long lapse between posts. It’s been a quiet month for the Tartan Army, but things are ramping up, and May has a number of important matches for Scotland national teams. The national women’s side takes on Portugal in a Euro qualifier this coming Saturday, and Ukraine on May 28th. Also, the men’s team goes on the road for the first time under George Burley, as they make a very tough trip to the Czech Republic on the 30th.

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.