Post by dreamy on Sept 10, 2007 3:21:55 GMT 10
Battling Scots keep dream alive
TOM ENGLISH
AT HAMPDEN PARK
Scotland 3 (Boyd 31; McManus 77; McFadden 83)
Lithuania 1 (Danilevicius 61 (pen))
ROUTINE day at Hampden. A few panic attacks, maybe. The odd coronary. A spleen or ten need replacing, that's true. And there's probably a larynx here and there that require a bit of attention this morning. Apart from that, straightforward. Incident-free. Scotland move serenely on to Paris. No need for further comment.
If only, if only. Nothing comes easy to Alex McLeish's team. But why does everything have to be so damn hard? Earlier in this campaign they needed a late strike to beat away the Georgians. Here, they needed another. The good thing is that Scotland's challenge is alive this morning, the downer, the thing that sparked fear and bitterness all over Hampden, is that they came perilously close to seeing it in smoke. They almost had their dream of European championship qualification killed off by an ugly combo of their own insipid play and the theatrics of a diving Lithuanian, the game only made safe thanks to the blessed alliance of Stephen McManus's left knee and James McFadden's sweet, sweet left foot.
Scotland were het-up from minute one. Then Kris Boyd scored and everybody chilled out. The lead was precarious, perhaps, but things were comfortable. There wasn't a lot happening down the Scotland end. Nothing much for Craig Gordon to worry about. Best chance of a Lithuanian goal? A penalty. To be fair, what were the chances?
A lot higher in the second half than they were in the first, as it turned out. Or put it another way, a certain Hearts winger came on to the field at the break and suddenly the penalty potential multiplied. It happened on 60 minutes. A dive, a spot-kick, a goal. Lordy, lordy, a travesty. If you'd told the entire Hampden crowd before kick-off that the visitors would get a penalty and that it would come courtesy of some simulation then they'd have named their suspect in two seconds flat. Saulius Mikoliunas.
Mikoliunas got booed for the rest of the day - get used to it Miko ol' son - but what good did it do? No good at all. Scotland felt a grave injustice. Hampden was angry and afraid. "There was a lot of time left," said McLeish. "That was the bonus. Lithuania had a good spell. They caused us problems. But we regrouped. The subs helped. I always said we'd good options on the bench. Players who can be an inspiration, who can give us an extra spring in our step."
McLeish put Shaun Maloney into the action in the 76th minute and the first thing the little fella did was collect a short corner on the left and whip a ball into the Lithuanian box, which carried and carried and eventually fell to a blue shirt at the back post. A striker? No. A midfield man? No. It was McManus. What the hell was he doing there? The eyes of the Celtic captain widened as the ball came to him. Jesus! He contorted his body. It hit his knee. And, mercy be, it went in. "100% meant," said McLeish. "He improvised really well."
Relief now. And songs and celebration. And then a third Scottish goal. McFadden got it and it was a corker, a shot curled high and wide of the grasp of Zydrunas Karcemarskas in the Lithuanian goal. In a moment, Scotland were free, saved by the three Ms - Maloney, McManus, McFadden. Two of them were subs. Both should have been on the field earlier - from the start would have been nice - but McLeish got away with it, unlike some. Ukraine only drew with Georgia yesterday. They're slipping out of contention. Scotland are bang there still.
Never in doubt, we joked later. But nobody laughed. Nineteen minutes in, and the ball came zipping into the Lithuania penalty area. Kris Boyd got his head on it, forcing a save out of Karcemarskas, a pawed effort that saw the ball dropping into Lee McCulloch's air space. One emphatic header and Scotland would have been up and running. McCulloch nodded weakly. Karcemarskas saved again. Groan. Was it really going to be another one of those days?
Twenty minutes of gloom ensued, then 30 minutes. Hampden was quiet and still. Then it went berserk. Garry O'Connor was hauled to the ground away on the right wing and won a free-kick. The cameras panned to McLeish, putting notes in a book. Darren Fletcher strolled over and swung the ball into the box. Still the manager scribbled. Boyd got ahead of his marker, Andrius Skerla, and glanced a header past Karcemarskas. Hampden exploded. The manager lifted his head, saw Boyd wheeling away with that lottery look on his face. McLeish exploded too. Briefly. Then went back to his notes. Not over, boys. Work to be done yet.
How right he was. Before the break they could have had trebled their total but didn't. The half-time interval. The emergence of Mikoliunas. The dive over Fletcher's leg and the shrill of Damir Skomina's whistle that told us he'd fallen for it. Up stepped Tomas Danilevicius of Bologna. The former Dunfermline man dinked it down the middle. Goal. Half an hour left to save the dream.
On came McFadden for the anonymous Gary Teale. McFadden offered hope. McManus, meanwhile, was on a crusade. He was immense, pure and simple. In the 70th minute his header was just about tipped away by Karcemarskas. In the 72nd minute he made a key block down the other end from Mindaugas Kalonas. In the 77th minute he scored.
The joint was still rocking when McFadden put the cherry on top with his gorgeous effort from distance. Carnival time was upon us again, the memory of Mikoliunas gone but not forgotten. This was more fraught than anybody could have imagined, but it's done now. And the dream remains.
OVERVIEW
MAN OF THE MATCH: A few contenders, with Darren Fletcher playing a true captain's role, but Stephen McManus edges it. He was a pivotal figure all day, strong and defiant at the back and a hero up front with a goal that will live long in the memory
ASIDE: Referee Damir Skomina is six years younger than David Weir but the Slovenian will age a few years when he gets a look at his penalty howler.
sport.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1441652007