Scotland - Germany 1:1 (0:1)



Match Number:	731
Date:		07.06.2003
Location:	Hampden Park, Glasgow
Competition:	European Championship Qualifier


SCOTLAND:
Douglas
Ross (75. McNamara), Pressley, Webster, Naysmith
Devlin (60. Rae), Lambert, Cameron, Dailly
Miller (90. Thompson), Crawford  
Coach: Berti Vogts (!)
 
GERMANY:
Kahn
Friedrich, Ramelow, Wörns
Frings, Jeremies, Rau (57. Freier)
B. Schneider (86. Kehl), Ballack
Bobic, Klose (74. Neuville)  
Coach: Voeller 


Scoring:
0:1 Bobic (22.)
1:1 Miller (69.)
 
Referee: Messina (Italy)
Yellow cards: Devlin, Dailly, Pressley, Thompson - Frings (2), Freier, Ballack

Attendance: 52,000

A lot was made of this match, "game of the year", etc, but it turned out to be another disappointment. Ex-national coach Berti Vogts, the (often) unfairly ridiculed figure led his Scottish team against his former charges.

Right from the start, it was clear that the Germans had a technically superior squad, and they controlled the match easily. The Scots could only bring forth their fighting spirit. Nevertheless, despite their superiority, the Germans couldn't do much, until the first real successful combo led to the goal. Ballack, who had a crap game, put Frings through on the right, and his cross found Bobic, who calmly headed home for the lead. The germans apparently now figured they could goof around, and didn't seriously try to press their advantage. Despite control of the match, they did nothing notable in the rest of the half.

After the break, the Scots came out charging, although the DFB defense had things easily under control. But they started playing like lazy bums, and were asleep when the Scots took a quick free kick, and Miller slotted home the equalizer. This woke them up, and the Germans launched a strong assault on the Scots goal, but were unable to achieve anything.

Despite technical inferiority, the Scots deserved the point, as the DFB squad was too lazy to try and press home their advantages.


Abseits Guide to German Soccer: www.abseits-soccer.com