Hello there, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you’re not feeling too hungover after the madness that was last night, when England were crowned European champions for the first time after a shock victory at Wembley against the mighty Finland. Who honestly expected Jordan Pickford to score a 90th-minute winner with a header from the halfway line?!
Or at least that would’ve happened but for some virus which has absolutely nothing to do with an Irish rock band.
Anyway, seeing as it’s the day after what would’ve been the Euro 2020 Final, my Championship Manager 99/00 story with Scotland has reached quite a fitting moment. The previous chapter saw us qualify for Euro 2004 – and that tournament will be the main focus in today’s installment. Enjoy!
MARCH 2004
Scottish eyes were now turning towards the upcoming European Championship, but who would the Tartan Army face in Portugal? The group draw took place in February, when UEFA gave us the mother of all tests…
So yeah, we would open things up in Group 4 against a little-known team named Germany. After their humiliating failure to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, the Mannschaft had been reinvented by new coach Rainer Zobel and would surely be back to their best here.
Holland were the group favourites for my money, and with Barcelona ace Patrick Kluivert up front, they would be highly-fancied to go all the way. Our last opponents Denmark were no mugs either, having topped the Oranje’s group undefeated. You might also remember they beat us twice in the World Cup qualifiers.
England’s group wasn’t exactly a picnic, either. Kevin Keegan’s Three Lions were in Group 1 alongside hosts and holders Portugal, underdogs Finland… and Yugoslavia, who were ranked number 1 in the world.
The year had begun with Ajax winning the FIFA Club World Championship on Dutch soil, finishing top of European champs Bayern München’s group before beating Vasco 2-0 in the Final. Johann Vogel and Adrian Mihalcea scored the goals, in case you’re interested.
Rangers were storming to the Scottish Premier League title, leading Celtic by 20 (TWENTY) points at the end of February. Marc Anthony had scored 24 goals in 23 games, and he’d recently been joined at Ibrox by Scotland team-mate Michael Craig, though the former Dundee striker had yet to get off the bench.
That leads us to our pre-tournament friendlies. Prior to watching Euro 2000 on TV, we played Austria and Turkey at home. Before going to East Asia two years ago, we played Austria and Turkey at home. Ahead of Euro 2004, the Scottish FA decided to do something completely different…
…by playing Austria AWAY in March. And then Turkey at home in April.
After a shock defeat to Australia in our previous friendly, I made a raft of changes for the Austria game – too many to mention. Some were forced, such as a groin strain sidelining Liverpool winger Allan Johnston. And of course Manchester United left-back Steven Hammell pulled his hamstring against Charlton on the day I announced my squad!
I’d also frozen out the increasingly erratic Neil Sullivan and promote 22-year-old Andy McPherson, who’d been Aberdeen’s first-choice keeper for the past year or so. His Dons team-mate Stuart McCaffrey – a 24-year-old midfielder – also got a maiden call-up, as did St Johnstone winger Martin Lauchlan (23).
Derby defender Paul Ritchie – capped twice by previous manager Craig Brown in 1999 – got his first call-up from me, as a reward for his consistent Premiership form.
AUSTRIA 0-2 SCOTLAND (Friendly)
Our last two meetings with Austria had ended in shutout defeats. Young Arsenal right-back Craig McCulloch put that right after just five minutes, beating former Gunners goalkeeper Alex Manninger (now at Liverpool) from a direct free-kick.
Chelsea’s Paul Dalglish doubled our lead midway through the first half after an assist by returning captain Kevin James. Prince Paul was unlucky not to score again in the second half, as Manninger made several key saves for the Burschen. Nonetheless, we had broken our Austrian hoodoo.
The next day, we found out our qualifying group for the 2006 World Cup. You want a quick look at what awaits us after our Iberian adventure?
APRIL 2004
Our last match before the Euros was back at Hampden Park, against a Turkey team who’d already given us a couple of stern tests. It genuinely was bewildering that they hadn’t qualified for a major tournament since 1996.
Hammell was fully fit (for once), but now his left-back rival Gary Naysmith had to sit a game out with a thigh injury sustained at Celtic’s training ground. Johnston’s return to fitness meant Lauchlan dropped back out – and he didn’t even get a look-in for the ‘B’ team.
It would be an emotional day when the Scottish and Turkish reserves did battle at Hampden. Goalkeeper Andy Goram – now aged 40 and winding down his career in the Czech Republic with Viktoria Plzen – was picked to represent his country for the final time. Believe me when I say it took us AGES to find a jersey that fitted him!
Goram didn’t have the perfect send-off, conceding in the 42nd minute after Nihat’s through-ball was finished by Selahattin. To be fair, Andy was probably daydreaming of sombreros. We still won 4-1, though, thanks to a double from Middlesbrough’s teenage midfielder Steve Brown.
SCOTLAND 1-0 TURKEY (Friendly)
The main game was very close, as Turkey stretched our defence to its limits. Douglas came up with some important saves before his Celtic team-mate Mark Burchill headed in his 10th goal in 30 caps to give us a narrow half-time lead.
We struggled to create chances in the second half, but Douglas, James and co bailed us out time and time again. McPherson also did a decent job when the rookie keeper came on for the final few minutes, though he was nearly beaten by a last-gasp Ismael Ayaz strike that clipped the post.
And so we would head into the Euros off the back of successive victories, albeit against mediocre opposition. Our next three games would be much, much tougher.
EURO 2004
Rangers were THE dominant force in the SPL this season, losing just ONE match (at Motherwell) en route to winning the league with 101 points – 31 more than Celtic. They also lifted the League Cup, but manager Ruud Gullit controversially jumped ship to Milan before the Scottish Cup Final, which the Gers lost to their Glasgow rivals.
Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa were all vying for the Premiership title, but it was Manchester United who claimed a ninth championship under Alex Ferguson. Villa consoled themselves by winning the FA Cup Final, beating West Ham 4-0 in the ‘David Cameron derby’. Speaking of Derby, they took the League Cup at Charlton’s expense.
Former Middlesbrough icon Juninho scored the opener as Juventus defeated Marseille 2-0 to claim the Champions League. Sadly for Sunderland fans, they couldn’t quite win a second UEFA Cup in three years. Ajax beat the Mackems 5-4 on penalties in the Final after Iván Rosado’s spot-kick was saved by Jurek Dudek (that’s Jerzy to you and me).
Barcelona continued to boss La Liga, winning it for the sixth time in seven seasons. However, one of their main men would be absent from Euro 2004 through injury…
Mind you, Holland’s Frank Rijkaard wasn’t the only manager in our group with an injury headache. McCulloch had injured his shin, meaning I couldn’t take the exciting 22-year-old to Portugal for the finals. These were the 22 who did make it onto the plane:
As ever, I’ll quickly go through each player, dropping a few snapshots of our key men along the way.
Since joining Celtic after the World Cup, Robert Douglas has made solid progress and become our first-choice keeper. He’s kept seven clean sheets in his last five Scotland caps, which says a lot. Dundee United’s dependable goalie Alan Combe and Aberdeen’s rising star Andy McPherson will take turns warming the bench.
Kevin James has been a rock in the centre of the Scottish defence since succeeding Colin Hendry as captain. The Hearts skipper is strong, brave and determined, though his positional awareness leaves a little to be desired. Despite not playing much football for new club Leeds this season, 33-year-old Brian McAllister has been retained for one more tournament.
The energetic Russell Anderson could be James’ long-term centre-back partner for the Tartan Army, having been converted from a right-back by Newcastle boss Bryan Robson (yes, they brought him back). CM97/98 legend Alan Archibald entered the mix recently, though his erratic form for Chelsea is a little concerning.
Right-back Jackie McNamara is one of the most experienced players in the squad, with 32 caps to his name. The 30-year-old has also made over 200 league appearances for Celtic, earning plaudits for his selflessness and commitment to his team’s cause.
Fellow Bhoy Gary Naysmith is similarly dependable at left-back, though the 25-year-old now has stiff competition. Within less than 18 months, Steven Hammell has signed for Manchester United, won the Premiership, earned four Scotland caps, and been named PFA Young Player of the Year… twice. He is just 21.
Barry Ferguson has become a pivotal midfield playmaker after providing assists galore. After three difficult years at Real Madrid, though, he has agreed to join Deportivo on a Bosman this summer. Manchester City’s Willie Howie is a hard-working ‘mezzala’ who keeps being relegated from the Premiership but is almost undroppable for Scotland.
Sitting in defensive midfield will be Celtic’s Paul Lambert, who is now 34 and will bow out after this tournament. His long-term successor is yet to be decided, but Aberdeen’s pass master Marvyn Wilson can provide solid backup should the ex-Dortmund man pick up another suspension.
In terms of average ratings, this has been the best of Neil McCann‘s five seasons at Rangers. The explosive left-footed attacking midfielder is in the prime of his club career but needs to become more consistent for his country. McCann’s long-term rival Allan Johnston will complete a free transfer to Chelsea from Liverpool during the tournament.
French-based right-winger Iain Anderson is also on the move, with the long-shot specialist recently leaving Troyes for Nantes. 22-year-old attacking midfielder Craig Callaghan may be in demand too, having provided 19 assists for Huddersfield as they won the Division 1 play-offs in May.
Marc Anthony is just a goal machine, having produced 41 of them in his first full season at Rangers. The former Celtic youth player is just as prolific at international level and needs just one more goal to overtake Ally McCoist and become Scotland’s fifth-highest scorer.
Aged just 23, Celtic’s Mark Burchill is already a third of the way towards overhauling Denis Law’s and Kenny Dalglish’s joint records of scoring 30 Scotland goals. King Kenny’s son Paul Dalglish is playing at his first tournament after netting 15 Premiership goals for Chelsea. This will also be a new experience for 20-year-old Wimbledon prospect Michael Balfour.
GROUP STAGE
Sorry, Basement Jaxx, but we would need a bit more than “good luck” in the group phase. Our three opponents held five European Championships between them, whereas Scotland had never made it so far as the Quarter Finals.
Denmark opened Group 4 with a 2-1 comeback win over Holland. Two days later, we got our campaign up and running in Braga against three-time champions Germany. The Mannschaft’s starting XI included four players I managed at Leverkusen in my last CM99/00 blog save – Markus Happe, Jens Nowotny, Stefan Beinlich and (gulp) Oliver Neuville.
SCOTLAND vs GERMANY (Euro 2004 – Group 4, Match 1)
Germany’s machine clicked into gear instantly, and our defence was constantly under siege during the first half-hour. McAllister and McNamara each picked up bookings in their attempts to stop the assaults, with Jackie especially lucky not to see red for a two-footed lunge on Rostock forward Erwin Bradasch.
After 34 minutes, Neuville showed up to end our resistance. A clever first touch to Thomas Reidl’s pass set things up nicely for the Milan striker to finish past Douglas. Two minutes later, Reidl and Neuville linked up again for a second goal – Oli’s 10th for Germany.
We went into the break 2-0 behind, having created just one shot on target – a Burchill header just before half-time which ex-Rangers goalie Stefan Klos tipped behind. I tried to put more pressure on the German backline by switching to a 4-3-3 from our usual diamond.
That tactical change helped us create more chances after the interval, but our luck didn’t turn for the better. Another Burchill header in the 64th minute clipped the post, while Anthony’s only effort nine minutes later was easily caught by Klos. There would be no gifts from ‘Santa’, especially not in June.
Douglas did a fine job of preventing Germany from adding to their half-time lead, even being named ‘man of the match’. Even so, we were off to a losing start and faced an even tougher challenge to make it out of the group.
At the very least, we were guaranteed to outlast England. The Three Lions were already planning to go home after successive 1-0 defeats to Finland and Portugal. Surely Kevin Keegan couldn’t survive that?
Elimination potentially awaited us if we lost our second game, in Vila do Conde against Holland. The Oranje were missing only Fernando Ricksen (another Rangers alumnus) through injury, but I had a bigger headache.
For one thing, McCann had sprained his wrist and wasn’t fit to start. More significantly, Burchill, McNamara and Russell Anderson were all suspended after being booked against the Germans. With both our right-backs unavailable, I had to abandon the flat back four and adopt this:
I’d experimented with a 3-5-2 once before as Scotland manager – in the closing stages of the 4-0 win over Armenia which sent us to this tournament. Giving this system its first proper airing against a team of Holland’s calibre was a little risky, to say the least!
HOLLAND vs SCOTLAND (Euro 2004 – Group 4, Match 2)
Unsurprisingly, Holland shaded the first half, with Edgar Davids putting them ahead in the fifth minute after the Fiorentina midfielder headed in Niels Oude Kamphuis’ corner. Aside from Iain Anderson firing a late shot well wide for Scotland, that was about as exciting as the opening period got.
By the interval, Anthony was struggling for fitness, so Balfour came on in his place. The youngster almost scored a dream equaliser four minutes into the second half, but he put the ball into Edwin van der Sar’s hands after the Dutch keeper had parried Dalglish’s fierce shot.
Then, three minutes later, came a cruel blow. Ferguson hurt his thigh in a collision with a Dutch midfielder and had to leave early. Howie wouldn’t complete the match either, and we couldn’t crack the Oranje defence open without either of our key midfield men. Another shut-out defeat was inevitable.
Our fate was sealed two days later, when Jon Dahl Tomasson’s goal got Denmark a narrow 1-0 win over Germany. The Danish Dynamite were assured of a Quarter Final place before their final group game against us. Meanwhile, the Germans and Dutch would battle each other for 2nd, with Holland needing a win to qualify.
We were heading out at the first round, then, but Ferguson was already back home in Spain after injury ended his tournament early. In his place, I called up the versatile defender/midfielder Stuart McCaffrey – recently signed by Newcastle on a free transfer from Aberdeen.
And so our tournament would end on a breezy Wednesday afternoon in Braga, against the great Danes. On the occasion of Paul Lambert’s 42nd and final cap, could we sign off with a win? A point? Even a goal would be nice!
SCOTLAND vs DENMARK (Euro 2004 – Group 4, Match 3)
A goal in the 14th minute from Denmark wasn’t so nice. Douglas lost focus at just the wrong moment, and he could only watch Ebbe Sand rifle in a half-volley from Dan Petersen’s header.
By the 29th minute, we were sinking deeper into the quicksand, as Ebbe set up a second Danish goal for our old nemesis Peter Møller. The match looked beyond us now, but fresh hope came on 42 minutes, when a reckless two-footer on Burchill earned Denmark defender Martin Smith his second yellow card.
Alas, we couldn’t make the breakthrough, even against 10 men. Burchill and Anthony must’ve left their scoring boots in Glasgow, as their footwear proved powerless against Morten Hyldgaard – a goalkeeper so highly-rated that he was Neil Sullivan’s backup at Tottenham!
So yeah… that was it. Three games, three defeats, ZERO goals. Scotland had never done so badly at a tournament before, yet the SFA board were still “delighted” with my performance. And you thought Del Amitri had low standards!
Germany and Holland finished 0-0, which meant the Mannschaft snuck through to the Quarters on goal difference. Let’s see how the other groups finished up…
Finland and Portugal each won their opening two games to qualify from Group 1, which the Finnish debutants topped after a spirited 1-1 draw against the hosts. England restored some dignity by beating Yugoslavia, but that bumbling halfwit Keegan still kept his job!
Group 2 was won by Italy, who exacted World Cup Final revenge on Sweden en route to three clean-sheet victories. Having also lost their opener to eventual runners-up Croatia, the Swedes were eliminated early but signed off with a win over Belgium – the only team apart from us to remain goalless.
Group 3 was a dire spate of 1-0 wins, though Norway broke the mould by putting TWO past Romania. However, it was France and Spain who bored their way through to the Quarter Finals, with Les Bleus finishing top after winning their encounter.
In case you’re not counting, there were 33 goals in 24 games – an average of just over 1.5 per match. How riveting. Surely the knockout rounds would make up for that…
QUARTER FINALS
The first Quarter Final saw Portugal’s hopes of retaining their title on home soil go up in smoke. Parma midfielder Giampiero Maini headed Italy into the lead late in the first half before Nicola Ventola – who scored 29 Serie A goals for Bologna this season – doubled the advantage.
Carsten Jancker gave Germany an early lead against France, only for Liverpool’s Pegguy Luyindula to level the scores and help send the game to penalties. As expected, the Mannschaft prevailed 3-1 after Nicolas Anelka scooped the decisive penalty over the bar.
Hyldgaard produced another fine goalkeeping display as Denmark overcame Spain to reach the Semis. Captain Simon Karkov and winger Martin Jørgensen scored in the first half to move the Danes a step closer to another unlikely Euro victory.
It had been a debut to remember for Finland, whose forward Teemu Tainio scored four goals in the group phase. Alas, Croatia proved one obstacle too many. Napoli left-winger Jerko Leko’s decider for the Vatreni – just like all the other Quarter Final goals – came within the opening 45 minutes.
SEMI FINALS
Denmark advanced to their second continental final after a scrappy win over Croatia. Thomas Gravesen scored the winning penalty in the 26th minute, only to be sent off seven minutes later for two bookable offences. Compatriot Martin Albrechtsen also saw red for a professional foul in the closing stages, but Bo Johansson’s Danes held on.
Like in 1992, they would face Germany for the Henri Delaunay Trophy. Marcel Maltritz’s 24th-minute goal was cancelled out in the second half by Italy striker Vincenzo Montella, but Rainer Zobel’s side later prevailed 5-3 in a shoot-out that went to eight rounds. Klos’ save from Massimo Brambilla sent the Mannschaft into a fourth consecutive Euro Final!
FINAL
How fitting that such a low-scoring tournament ended with a 0-0 draw that went to penalties. Germany were slight favourites in Lisbon, but when Markus Babbel clattered into Bo Hansen in the 40th minute, Denmark had the chance to break the deadlock. However, Hansen – who played in Coventry’s midfield with captain Karkov – saw his spot-kick saved by Klos.
After two otherwise miserable hours of football, the Danes proved more clinical from the spot. Dietmar Hamann’s miss from Germany’s first penalty was the decisive one, as a few minutes later, Lecce right-back Jan Michaelsen secured a 4-3 Danish win. After 12 years, the European Championship title was returning to Copenhagen!
To be honest, I just want to forget all about that tournament. Anyway, it’ll soon be time to focus on the 2006 World Cup – and a chance to gatecrash England’s party.
Well, that was fun. At least we already have the next Euros to fall back on, and maybe the World Cup as well. Our bid to qualify for England 2006 will begin next Monday in Part 8.
Before then, though, I have another CM99/00 post going live on Friday. I’ll be looking at some of the cult icons from that game and seeing what’s happened to them over the last 20 years. I hope you’ll give that a look as well.
Until next time, thanks for reading.
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