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Memories of France 98 as Scotland finally end long wait for major finals return

Scotland fans at France 98.
Scotland fans at France 98.

There is a sports quiz question that is trickier to answer than it should be.

It is: “Who was the last player to score for Scotland’s men’s national team at a major finals?”

The reason you maybe can’t just pluck the name out the air is that it happened so long ago.

The answer is Craig Burley, who was then at Celtic, and the goal was the equaliser for the Scots in their 1-1 draw with Norway at the Parc Lescure in Bordeaux on June 16, 1998.

The tournament was the glorious France 98, a wonderful World Cup that was won by the Zinedine Zidane-inspired host nation.

The French beat Brazil 3-0 in the final to bring the curtain down on a feast of football but it was Scotland who first faced Ronaldo and Co.

John Collins (far right) scores from the spot to pull Scotland level during the opening game. Pic: SNS.

In one of the most auspicious occasions the team has ever been involved in, the Scots played the then reigning world champions in the opening game of the tournament in front of an 80,000 crowd at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.

Every Tartan Army member who was there that day had won the football lottery, a rare golden ticket to cherish.

The game did not disappoint either, with Cesar Sampaio heading Brazil into the lead after just five minutes.

Then, with 38 minutes on the clock, the Scotland fans were in dreamland when ice-cool midfielder John Collins scored from the penalty spot after Kevin Gallacher had been fouled inside the box.

Anything seemed possible after that, or at least until the ball ricocheted off the hapless Tom Boyd for an own goal on 73 minutes to gift Brazil a 2-1 victory.

The Norwegians had drawn 2-2 with Morocco in the other group game that day so Scotland knew a victory in Bordeaux on June 16 would get them right back in the mix.

The fans believed, with the Tartan Army far outnumbering the opposition supporters inside Parc Lescure.

However, Havard Flo opened the scoring for the Scandinavians a minute into the second half.

Then came the quiz question answer, with Burley chipping Norway goalkeeper Frode Grodas on 66 minutes and that’s how it stayed.

They weren’t out yet and the talk in the bars was of victory over Morocco and a Brazilian win over Norway.

The Scots being the Scots, though, it didn’t turn out like that.

While they were losing 3-0 to the Moroccans in Saint-Etienne, Norway were notching up a shock 2-1 success over the defending champions in Marseille.

It was the usual tale of woe.

I was so taken by France 98, though, that I was still in Paris when the final took place.

This Tartan Army straggler would become a World Cup-winning fan by proxy, joining a million French men, women and children on the Champs-Elysees to party following their 3-0 win over Brazil.

It was a special night and definitely the closest this Scotland fan will ever get to experiencing such euphoria.

My motto was: “If you can’t beat them (or Brazil, Norway and Morocco) then join them.”

Never did I think, though, that the wait to see the Scots back at a major finals would last 23 years.