It will be interesting to see if the criticism awaiting Scotland, or more particularly MacLeod, on their arrival home has been softened by Sunday’s saving grace. Sign up for our daily newsletter of the top stories in Courier country, Thank you for signing up to The Courier daily newsletter. Dalglish beat Wim Rijsbergen to it, stuck his right boot out, and guided past the advancing Jan Jongbloed. June, Wednesday • Scott Murray is co-author of And Gazza Misses The Final: Epic World Cup clashes, minute-by-minute, as they really happened, World Cup stunning moments: The Battle of Santiago | Simon Burnton, World Cup stunning moments: Luis Suárez bites Giorgio Chiellini in 2014 | Nick Miller, World Cup stunning moments: Zinedine Zidane's head-butt | Ian McCourt. However, over eight days, the squad stumbled from disappointment to calamity – from poor results against so-called weaker teams, to a failed drugs test and a fans’ rebellion. “Well that’s two points in the bank,” he said. Scotland had to beat the 1974 finalists by three clear goals if they were to clamber out of the hole they had dug for themselves and slip into the second round.

Krol sent an uncertain header back towards his own box. They are England's coaching elite - but how do Premier League bosses rank as players? At least Chrysler hadn’t manufactured the team bus. MacLeod’s unyielding optimism sparked a vivid upswing in nationalistic fervour north of the border: many were as convinced as the manager that it was simply a matter of turning up and the cup would be theirs.

However, as students of hubris knew would happen, the inevitable soon arrived. When Argentina came along in ‘78 and I was picked for the squad. One: he took the ball away from Jansen. He joined Aberdeen in November 1975 with a first-ever relegation for the club looming. On Sunday, it was like watching Liverpool play Borussia Moenchengladbach in the European Cup semi-finals all over again. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. By now his room for manoeuvre had been squeezed down to this: in their final group game his Scotland had to beat the much-admired Dutch by three clear goals to progress. Two minutes later, Scotland had the ball in the net, the Dutch stepping up for offside, Tom Forsyth staying put on the penalty spot and popping the ball off the left-hand post and in. For some, like Lou Macari, it was a major issue, while others were more philosophical and simply proud to be representing Scotland at a World Cup. Rensenbrink got up and slotted the penalty kick away. Scotland’s Kenny Dalglish volleys the ball past Holland’s goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed to score. ‘Now I’ll probably be beheaded.’, Initially, the Scottish FA stood by him, acknowledging the lift he gave to the prominence of the national side. Alan Rough, his baseball cap wedged atop a springy perm and threatening to skyrocket towards the evening sun at any given point, launched a long ball forward. Dr Johnson would have been proud. As he steered the team through the latter stages of a tricky qualification group including the European champions Czechoslovakia to the World Cup finals in Argentina, so he became ever more elevated in his ambition. Sure enough, after a slow start, Peru proved themselves the bosses of Scotland, Teófilo Cubillas conducting the orchestra, Rioch dancing to his tune. Jan Jongbloed wore number 8 because some of the players who had been in the Dutch squad at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, where the Netherlands used a purely alphabetical numbering system, were given the same numbers again in 1978. The man-to-man marking of experienced Continental players did not seem to affect Souness, who glided about the midfield in his own private cocoon of space. Tuesday 6 June 06 Jun 1978 - 13:45 Local time. Michael Alexander kicked off proceedings by taking a sneak peak. In between the Wales and England games, Northern Ireland were dispatched 3-0. It was the first time that any African team had won a match at the World Cup finals. You’ll also get exclusive access to FIFA games, contests and prizes.

“It was so important to have that expression. “There can be little doubt that Scotland will be a force in Argentina,” we reported after the Wales game. But the win over the Dutch, with Archie Gemmill's sublime goal, was just oh-so-Scotland in its unfolding drama. “And yet there was the feeling that somehow we weren’t the complete kind of nation. Concerned that the chance had arrived too early in his career, but fearing he would never be asked again, he seized the opportunity with both hands. MacLeod didn’t turn up, citing a must-attend social engagement. There were still 18 minutes left, but it was all over. Copyright © 2020 BBC. There remained one hope. I am just glad to have reached the finals.”. They have missed out on progressing to the second round three times on goal difference: in 1974, when Brazil edged them out; in 1978, when the Netherlands progressed; and in 1982, when the Soviets qualified. * Scotland ’78: A Love Story, is on Wednesday, June 6, BBC One Scotland, 9-10pm. To which MacLeod replied, with the straightest of faces: ‘Retain it.’. A new BBC documentary examines the legacy of Scotland’s infamous journey to the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. Though not, by any rational analysis, potential world champions.

Sure enough, Scotland didn’t turn up, and were easily swatted aside, 2-0 in a nondescript affair.

Then again, how seriously did the Scottish FA examine MacLeod’s credentials before appointing him?

Kennedy finally thawed out, chasing back after the striker and bowling him over in the box. Downbeat and beleaguered, MacLeod sounded increasingly desperate as he told the media that the blame lay with the hotel pool: there was no water in it, so the players had been unable to take their mind off the football with a relaxing swim. Even now, one has a modicum of sympathy for MacLeod, a likeable enough man whose main fault was that he paid too much attention to saying the right things – or what he thought were the right things – when he should have been examining the details of the task facing him. Scotland went 3-0 up against Chile after 37 minutes in a match which saw them flop over the line 4-2. ‘With a bit of luck in the World Cup I might have been knighted,’ he said. McColl suggests, in hindsight, that certain players were past their peak by the time the Cordoba and Mendoza matches appeared on the horizon and MacLeod erred by sticking loyally with those who had earned qualification. Please sign in to your FIFA.com user account below. To many, all that’s left are the jaunty tales of the daftest romp. The Guardian had been in no two minds about Scotland’s chances at the World Cup. Poland won Group 2 ahead of world champions West Germany, after holding the Germans to a goalless draw and then beating Tunisia and Mexico. The team have never advanced beyond the first round of the finals competition. But initial results more than made up for it. In the Home Internationals, after Rioch and Masson had proved so ineffective against Northern Ireland, Gemmill and Souness were introduced against Wales and for a spell after half-time inspired the team to some marvellously fluent football.

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