Scottish hero hails home resistance

By Alex O'Henley in Glasgow

James McFadden paid tribute to Scotland's defenders after his first-half goal against the Netherlands at Hampden Park gave his nation one of their best results in modern times in the first leg of their UEFA EURO 2004™ play-off.

Fine balance
The Netherlands went into the tie as overwhelming favourites, but the 1-0 defeat in Glasgow means Dick Advocaat's team need to score two goals next Wednesday in Amsterdam  - or rely on penalties - if they are going to progress.

'We can beat them again'
"It is the most important goal of my life," said McFadden after the final whistle. "It wasn't the best of finishes but Darren [Fletcher] did really well to create the opening but credit to the defence also - they did really well and that's why we won today. If we can play like that next Wednesday there's no reason why we can't make it to Portugal. I think we can beat them again."

Inspirational youngsters
Prior to the match Scotland manager Berti Vogts asked his team to play the game of their lives and they duly obliged with a battling performance laced with moments of real skill. McFadden and Fletcher - making his first start for Scotland - were inspirational throughout and combined superbly to score the goal in the first half.

Vogts delighted
"It was a great performance by us in the first half," said a delighted Vogts. "We played some really good football and the team functioned well as a unit as I wanted. We tired a bit in the second half as the legs started to go, but it's only half-time and we have a lot of work to do yet. The pressure is all on the Dutch now."

Big talents
Asked about the performance of his young players, Vogts was fulsome in his praise of McFadden and Fletcher in particular. "James and Fletch are among the biggest talents in the UK and they showed that again today with that goal," he said. "All my players played very well and we have given ourselves a chance of creating a sensation now."

Players suspended
The only disappointment for Scotland concerned Christian Dailly who was making his 50th appearance for his country. A yellow card in the first half ruled him out of the return game in Amsterdam along with Dutch defender, Jaap Stam who also picked up another booking.

Strikers shackled
Dailly, Lee Wilkie and Steven Pressley kept the Netherlands' strikers shackled throughout the game, but Dutch coach, Dick Advocaat was keen to deflect the blame from his forward duo of Ruud van Nistelrooij and Patrick Kluivert.

Mediocre passing
"You can't just blame Van Nistelrooy and Kluivert for that performance," said Advocaat. "You also have to look at other players and today the quality of passes from midfield was not good enough. The Scots played well in the first half but Giovanni van Bronckhorst made a mistake for their goal. In the second half we were the team that created the better chances."

Worrying statistic
It is the first time that the Netherlands have failed to score in 16 matches and Advocaat, who has said that he will walk away from the job if they lose the two-legged tie, knows his side will have to raise their game on Wednesday.

Improvement needed
"One-nil is a dangerous result," he added. "We have to be careful defensively now. The Scots are capable of scoring a goal away from home as they showed in the second half and we have to improve 100 per cent for the second game."