Scots go top as McFadden stuns
French
James McFadden last night fired Scotland a massive step closer to
Euro 2008 with an incredible winner against World Cup Finalists
France. Roared on by the massed ranks of the Tartan Army, 15,000
strong inside the Parc des Princes, Alex McLeish's men secured
arguably the greatest ever result by our national team. A single
moment of McFadden brilliance turned the contest in Scotland's
favour and set up an astonishing second consecutive win over Les
Bleus.
From fully 30 yards out, McFadden's fantastic 64th-minute left-foot
strike flew past French goalkeeper Mickael Landreau to fire the
Scots to the top of a nail-biting Group B. A disbelieving Tartan
Army danced into the night after watching a disciplined performance
from the whiteshirted visitors illuminate the City of Light.
Asked about his goal, McFadden said: 'We trained here last night
and the balls were flying everywhere. It was either shoot or take
the man on. 'To beat them at Hampden was an upset but to beat them
here was just unbelievable. 'It felt like a home game. We had half
the stadium. It shows you the belief the fans have. They were not
here for a party they thought we could win. 'We have a great
chance of qualifying now. This was a game we weren't expecting to
win but we got the three points. Nobody expected us to do anything.
But, as I kept saying on Saturday, we've got so much belief in this
team, and it's shown through again.
'France are up there as one of the best teams in the world and
we've come here and we've more than held our own, and we've got a
win. 'It was not pretty at times. We defended well, we were solid,
we got a goal and won the game. 'We've got to believe we can win
the rest of the games why not?'
A jubilant McLeish rode the wave of euphoria that enveloped the
stadium and commented: 'We can say it's the best result in modern
times. We were not given a prayer. 'How many teams have come to
Paris and beaten the French? We can now put ourselves on the list
of teams who have done it.
As whether Scotland should now believe they can reach next summer's
Finals in Austria and Switzerland, McLeish said: 'They've just
proved to themselves they've got it. They should take the belief
from that.' The only minor blip on a memorable night came with
Italy's 2-1 win over Ukraine. Yet the Scots now stand top of a
tight group with 21 points. Italy now move ahead of previous group
leaders France on 20, with Raymond Domenech's men third on
19.