| Craig Burley's 66th-minute equaliser keeps alive Scotland's hopes of qualification
through to the second stages of France 98 as he raced through to cancel out
Harvard Flo's goal scored just 30 seconds after the half-time interval. With the
words of Norwegian coach Egil Olsen echoing in their ears that "Scotland were
the worst team in Group A", Craig Brown's side needed little motivation for this
vital clash in the Parc Lescure, Bordeaux. Defeat for the Scots would have meant
the end of their World Cup, but a win or a draw would keep their hopes alive
with the game against Morocco to come, whilst Norway's next match is against
Brazil and they too needed the points. Scotland fielded the same starting line-up
that performed so well against Brazil in the opening match of the tournament,
whilst Norway made three changes to the side that could only draw against
Morocco. With 11 of the Scandinavian squad plying their trade in the
Premiership, the game had a very British feel to it and the Scots were by far the
better side in the opening exchanges. John Collins and Paul Lambert took an
immediate grip on the centre of midfield whilst Gallacher and Durie were willing
runners up front. Dailly headed across the face of goal after just four minutes and
Durie looped a header just wide following a cross from his strike partner
Gallacher on 13 minutes as Craig Brown's side went in search of that crucial first
goal. The Scandinavians were fortunate to survive a blatant 17th-minute penalty
appeal when Durie was brought down by Bjornebye on the edge of the box, but
the referee incorrectly adjudged the offence to have been committed inches
outside the area. Norway, playing with the lone figure of Tore Andre Flo in
attack, were sadly bereft of creative ideas yet it was they who had the first effort
on target after 27 minutes when Roar Strand got behind Tommy Boyd onto Stale
Solbakken's clever throughball but Leighton did well to smother the danger. The
Scots continued to dominate the remainder of the half with Durie superbly
leading the front-line and wing-back Christian Dailly giving Henning Berg a
torrid time down the left channel, while Solbakken slashed a shot wide of
Leighton's goal. Just a minute after the break the Scottish defence were caught
napping when Lambert missed a tackle in midfield and Flo headed his side into
a shock lead. The goal was cruel on the Scots who then saw Darren Jackson
collect his second yellow card of the tournament and he will now miss the next
match against Morocco. Craig Brown immediately took the opportunity to
re-arrange his side, replacing Jackson with Jackie McNamara, who took up a
position on the right allowing Craig Burley to play in a more central role. The
change paid dividends when the Celtic midfielder raced forward onto substitute
David Weir's long pass to lob home a deserved equaliser. The Scots sensed
victory and threw everything at Norway with Dailly heading just wide from a
corner, Burley saw a superb 20-yard effort tipped over by Frode Grodas and
man-of the match Gordon Durie failed to get enough power into a late header.
The final whistle brought a roar of relief from the 'Tartan Army', who despite the
obvious disappointment of just one point from a great performance, recognised
the fact that their side were still in with a great chance of progressing. With Brazil
beating Morocco tonight, the Scots will need to beat the North Africans
in St Etienne on Tuesday 23 June, whilst Norway face the world champions in
Marseille needing a point at least. |
(1-1) Burley (66). He latched onto substitute David Weir's 50-yard pass over the Norway defence to reach the ball ahead of
Ronny Johnsen and lob a cool right-footed finish over the advancing 'keeper Grodas and into the
empty net from just inside the box. |
(0-1) Flo, H (46). Lambert missed a tackle in midfield and Riseth was released down the left to deliver a teasing cross
towards the far post where the big striker arrived unmarked behind Dailly to stoop and head home to
Leighton's left from just three yards. |
