Euro 2012, Part 1
The moment Scotland and England were drawn together in the same group for Euro 2012, fans on both sides of the border knew there was little chance of any pre-tournament chat focussing on anything else. It was, after all, the first time in a long time they’d been drawn against each other in a competitive fixture.
For once, though, there was a difference: Scotland seemed to be the more optimistic of the two nations. And why shouldn’t they be, given they had outplayed England in the last two major tournaments? This was only reinforced when England boss Fabio Capello abruptly resigned early in the new year, leaving the incoming Roy Hodgson little time to get his team in line for the tournament…
That said, Scotland weren't without their own problems. Captain Darren Fletcher had been forced to take a break from the game due to the ulcerative colitis he had been diagnosed with the previous season, and would thus miss the tournament, plus a good deal of the following World Cup qualifying campaign. In his absence, Alan McGregor took over as captain, with Scott Brown as vice.
This aside, Calderwood had a reasonably settled first choice team; having moved on from the rigid loyalty to 4-3-1-2, wingers such as Robert Snodgrass and James Forrest were starting to find their ways into the team (even Scott Brown occasionally played on the right). The only other real concern were that their two must-be-picked attackers, Kenny Miller and James McFadden, would surely be moving on soon…
Before the much anticipated England game, Scotland would be kicking off the tournament against co-hosts Ukraine in Kiev, where, as seemed to be the case for most Scotland tournament games now, the Tartan Army would be very much outnumbered by the very partisan home crowd.
And boy did the feel it, with Ukraine very much keeping them up against the wall throughout the first half, from which they were lucky to escape with the score still goalless. But then, just seven minutes into the second half, McFadden would silence the home crowd with a well timed volley to give Scotland the lead, and it looked like it would be their game to build on now.
Instead, Andriy Shevchenko rifled in an equaliser just three minutes later, and, within another seven, had scored a second to give the hosts the lead, and leave Scotland facing an opening defeat. Until Fletcher broke through to equalise in the 81st minute, and, on balance, a 2-2 draw was a fair result to an excellent first game that neither team really deserved to lose on balance.
Next up, the big one: England.
The match would, once again, be in Kiev, and Scotland would line up virtually identically to the Ukraine game: McGregor in goal, Hutton, Caldwell, McManus and Wallace, Morrison and Brown in midfield, and an attacking quartet of Naismith and McFadden with Miller and Fletcher in front of them…
England, who had also begun their tournament with a draw, 1-1 with France, lined up with just one change from that game, with Ashley Young moving to the wing and Andy Carroll coming in alongside Danny Welbeck up front. It wasn’t the strongest England team on paper; it was a very odd mixture of aging remnants of the must-start line-up of ‘Golden Generation’ and players such as Scott Parker who were finally getting games because others had moved on/weren’t available.
As the two teams walked out onto the field in Kiev, the atmosphere amongst the fans was superb; both were certainly doing their nations proud. Apart from when ‘Flower of Scotland’ and ‘God Save the Queen’ were booed by certain sections of the other team’s fans.
England started stronger, with Scotland once again spending most of the opening exchanges with their backs to the wall. Scott Parker would get the first real chance of the game, with a great long range shot that McGregor matched with an also-great save. McFadden would try a similar shot shortly afterwards, but Joe Hart was also more than a match for it.
A goal would surely be coming soon, and come soon it did, but not for Scotland, as Steven Gerrard played a lovely long ball into the box, and Carroll just beat the offside trap and squirmed between two defenders to header it past McGregor. 1-0 England.
And it could easily have been 2 shortly afterwards, but Ashley Young was well marked by Hutton and ultimately sent his shot into the side netting. Scotland did have chances of their own to equalise, notably another long range shot, this time from Brown, but, as the half time whistle came, England still led 1-0. Scotland were down, but most certainly not out of the game yet.
They only needed one chance, and it came much sooner than expected…
Just four minutes after the restart, they would get a freekick after Naismith was fouled by Lescott. McFadden would take it, only for his shot on goal to hit the England wall. The ball fell nicely for Caldwell though, and he would take a shot of his own; Hart got a hand on it, but only managed to spin the ball goalbound; Glen Johnson tried to clear it, but instead kicked it onto the post and it bounced over the line! 1-1!
A messy goal, but Scotland would take it!
Suddenly, the momentum seemed to have shifted Scotland’s way. They pushed forwards and seemed the more likely to score again…
Then, they got another freekick, this time on the wing. Brown would take it this time, straight into the box, and it again was received by Caldwell, who, this time, got a clean header on it and knocked it straight past Hart! Scotland had turned the game on its head to lead 2-1!
As the ball hit the back of the net, every single pub in Scotland exploded! As did the fanzone park at Hampden! Scotland had pulled off a terrific fightback, and deservedly lead their southern neighbours! Many were starting to believe they could finally exorcise the ghosts of that England game in Euro 96.
But those dreams were to last just five minutes, as England won a corner; Brown would header it out of the box, but it fell straight to the feet of Theo Walcott, who’d just come on as a sub, who fired it goalbound and caught McGregor out completely!
What a great game this was turning into now!
And it most definitely wasn’t done yet, as England now won a free kick in the same sort of area Scotland had for the kick they got their first goal from. Young would take it, but his shot went well over the bar without troubling McGregor.
Both teams were certainly pushing forwards in search of a winner, and Scotland had two good chances to do so: firstly, Morrison would receive a nice backwards pass from Wallace, but his shot skimmed just wide.
And then McFadden found himself in space just outside the box, and took yet another long shot, which nearly caught Hart out, but ultimately he made a good save to deny him. A winning goal looked like it would definitely come from somewhere…
And indeed it did. But, alas, not for Scotland, as Walcott turned assister, slipping the ball in to Welbeck, who made a very nice backheel flick that completely caught McGregor out. 3-2 England.
Scotland continued to push for another equaliser, but the England defence stood firm, and an excellent game would end 3-2.
Nonetheless, there were plenty of positives Jimmy Calderwood and his team could take from the game; they’d played very well, scored a good goal from an excellent set piece, and had proved more than a match for their oldest and most hated rivals. On another day, they could well have snatched a draw, or maybe even the win for themselves.
But lose they had, and now they would have to win their final game against their old acquaintances France to stand a chance of going through…
Once again playing in Kiev, Scotland would switch to a 4-1-2-1-2 for the game, with Brown shifting to the right wing, Snodgrass making his first competitive start for his country on the left, and the attacking quartet becoming a trio, with Naismith dropping out.
At first, things went merely adequately, as Scotland would match Les Bleus in the first half, keeping their attackers at bay, but would struggle to create chances of their own. Half time came with the scores still goalless, and Scotland were heading out as it stood.
Calderwood would then take the halftime gamble of swapping Miller out for Jordan Rhodes, who, in spite of his good goal against Montenegro, was still a somewhat surprising inclusion in the squad.
But the Huddersfield man would prove his worth as, nine minutes into the second half, he would make a good sprint into the box and fire a strong short at Hugo Lloris; the France captain would save it, but not hold it, and the rebound fell to Fletcher, who fired it home to give Scotland the lead!
The rattled French, who were now the ones going out as it stood, dominated play afterwards, with Scotland happy to sit back and soak up the pressure, though McGregor was called on for some good saves to maintain their lead.
Then, as the clock ticked into added time, France got a corner. But Malouda’s kick was tame, and McGregor comfortably caught it. Craftily, the Rangers keeper took the clearance quickly, and McFadden would quickly charge upfield, beating the off side trap and catching the France defence out completely. One on one with Lloris, he had all the time in the World to dribble past him and score, but instead he gave it sideways to Rhodes, who had the honour of scoring the goal that confirmed Scotland’s progress to the knockout stage!
The final table for Group D
For the French, the defeat would be the end of Gerard Houllier’s second stint as manager; he would step down ‘by mutual consent’ a day later, with Didiers Deschamps replacing him.
Scotland, meanwhile, had yet another knockout match to look forward to! Or, at least, they might’ve done, were they playing different opponents…
to be continued…
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So, here we are at Euro 2012. One of the least interesting tournaments of all time. Seriously, I remember barely anything about this tournament from the time, apart from the three knockout stage matches involving Italy (who I said at the time would've been utterly robbed if they'd lost to England). Still, what better way to inject some much needed excitement to the tournament than a Scotland vs England game! Yeah, it's basically the same game as that with Sweden IOTL, but still...
The rest of the groups go the same as OTL for the record, except with Belgium and Sweden replacing the Czech Republic and Croatia respectively. So, it's Scotland vs Spain in the QFs next week; tune back in to see if Scotland can halt La Roja's imperious winning run...
