Attendance 48,037
Scotland kept alive their hopes of qualifying for Euro 2004 in Portugal with a fighting 1-1 draw against Germany at Hampden Park this afternoon.
It was a performance and result that perhaps defied the pre-match critics who had predicted an overwhelming defeat for the home side, overlooking the simple truth that this is surely the poorest German national side for many a long day.
Maurice Ross was the solitary Ranger in the Scots side against opponents who fielded Michael Ballack of Bayern Munich despite pre-match reports that he was injured. The visitors line-up contained stars from Bayern, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, and Kaiserslautern, all of whom have played at Ibrox in recent years.
Scotland made a vigorous start before a near-capacity crowd that contained a massive German presence, harrying and harassing their more fancied opponents at every opportunity.
Despite this concerted effort however there was no early breakthrough that would have meant so much to the underdogs, a lack of creativity and poise perhaps negating the enthusiasm that was so apparent.
Indeed the opening goal when it arrived was, almost inevitably, at the other end – in what was effectively Germany’s first chance, Fredi Bobic taking advantage of slackness in the Scots’ defence to head home a Torsten Frings cross.
This was a blow to Scotland, but seven minutes later Kenny Miller and Colin Cameron were crowded out as they tried to cut through the German defence.
Stephen Crawford might have done better on the half-hour than shoot wide from a Gary Naysmith cross, yet eight minutes later it was Rab Douglas to the rescue when he turned wide a twenty-yard free-kick from Bernd Schneider.
Trailing at the interval, the Scots restarted on the offensive – and should have equalised two minutes in when Oliver Kahn parried a Crawford left-foot volley, the Pars’ striker seizing on the rebound to square to the unmarked Colin Cameron who, faced with an open goal, missed his kick completely.
The game – always simmering under the surface – boiled over in 64 minutes when both Christian Dailly and Michael Ballack were yellow-carded for an off-the-ball clash.
Four minutes later – out of the blue – it was 1-1 when a quickly taken free-kick by Cameron found Kenny Miller who coolly left Khan without an earthly as he buried the ball in the corner of the net.
Maurice Ross was replaced – injured - in 73 minutes, Jackie McNamara substituting.
The Germans stepped up the pace in the closing stages. Douglas again denied Schneider in 81 minutes when he turned wide another twenty-yard free-kick, then from the resultant corner taken by the same player the ball broke to the unmarked Christian Worms who blasted the ball over the bar.
Steven Thompson was introduced as late as the 89th minute, replacing ex-Ranger Kenny Miller who departed to a standing ovation.
It didn’t take Thompson long to make an impact, being yellow-carded for a foul on Arne Friedrich, but when the final whistle sounded soon afterwards it was the Scotland fans who were celebrating as if they had won the game, whereas the result leaves Germany in much the strongest position in the section.
Scots’ National Coach Berti Vogts afterwards expressed his satisfaction with the result:
"I am very satisfied with the team’s performance. We have been preparing two / three months for this game. We neutralised the German midfield, and can look ahead with confidence to the next two home games. Our young players Maurice Ross and Andy Webster were outstanding."
German Coach Rudi Voller stressed:
"This was two points lost. We scored with our first real chance, but lost possession too many times. We lacked imagination. The Scots’ team fought all the way."
SCOTLAND Douglas; Ross (McNamara 73), Dailly, Pressley, Webster, Naysmith; Devlin, Lambert, Cameron; Miller, Crawford
UNUSED SUBS N. Alexander, Gray, G. Alexander, Wilkie
GERMANY Kahn; Friedrich, Ray (Freier 56), Worns, Ramelow; Frings, Schneider (Kehl 85), Ballack, Jeremies; Bobic, Klose (Neuville 73)
UNUSED SUBS Rost, Rehmer, Hinkel, Kuranyi
REFEREE Domenico Messina (Italy)