Walter Smith Is fast becoming the Renaissance Man of Scottish Football, as his side trounced Norway in Oslo tonight.

Scotland took the field for their must win Group 5 match against Norway,with two changes from the side that so nearly triumphed against Italy last week. Nigel Quashie failed a late fitness test and inspirational defender Christain Dailly was suspended, so Stephen Presley and James Mc Fadden were included in Walter Smith’s newly resurgent team.

The spirit and confidence that was lacking in the past has been replaced, and Scotland were going to need every bit of it in order to overcome a Norwegian team that had only conceded one goal in their home qualification matches.

The home side fielded five changes from their previous match, through suspensions and possibly, a bit of over confidence. Their fans were full of songs that roughly translated into “we’re going to Germany” as the match began in the compact and crowded stadium, that could have been filled twice over. The Norwegian pundits were predicting a low scoring victory or a 0-0 draw prior to the match, the travelling tartan army were not of the same opinion, the one thing they did agree with the locals on however, was the exorbitant price of the beer!

The most important aim for Scotland was not to concede a goal early on in the match, and their defence stood firm as Norway launched a series of early probing attacks, at the other end of the pitch, Kenny Miller played a more central role alongside James McFadden up front as Walter Smith’s side played an adventurous 4-4-2 formation.
As early as the 5th minute Valencia had the ball in the back of the net for Norway, but the goal was disallowed for a questionable foul on Gordon in the Scottish goal.
Risse, in particular was always a danger for the Norwegians, audaciously attempting a curled 35-metre free kick that just missed the mark after only ten minutes! Despite the importance of the game, the tempo was very slow, Scotland were not making the passes and could have done with pressurising their occasionally lackadaisical opposition, from a defensive point of view the ‘Bravehearts’ were doing well, but playing rather deep, however, all was about to change..
Scotland’s small but vociferous support erupted when on 20 minutes McFadden laid on a superb strike for Kenny Miller to fire home, making it three goals in his last three International appearances. From the re-start Scotland started to stroke the ball around rather well, the expected Norwegian assault on goal did not happen, the changes in their line up bringing about a thoroughly disjointed performance.
Kenny Miller put the visitors into ‘nose bleed’ territory as he calmly executed his sublime beautifully taken second goal of the night, much to the distress of the now silent home crowd, prompting a chorus of “who’s going to Germany” from the Tartan Army. Worryingly Miller was beginning to hobble, forcing his eventual substitution on 41minutes, despite this, the Norwegians, who had the crowd on their backs, looked overjoyed to reach half time only the two goals down.
The Norwegian half time talk was probably more than just heated, as the home team re-appeared they had the look of players who had just been roasted! They began the second half with much more application and determination, forcing Scotland to defend deeper and deeper and look extremely ragged, although Presley was doing his level best to get his defence to clear their lines, going forward things looked much better with Mc Fadden forcing a couple of smart saves. With Miller off the pitch, Scotland were unable to recreate the same type of performance as they had in the first half, and the game became one of attrition, with Norway probing and Scotland blocking their every move, As time wore on, the crowd, who had come expecting a Norwegian goal fest, became increasingly frustrated, and let their feelings known by booing their own team. In the 71st minute Craig Beattie came on for James Mc Fadden, who had run his heart out for the cause, and Scotland began to play the sort of possession football usually associated with Italian teams of the past, however, as the game went into the dying stages, a certain anxiety started to creep into their play, almost as if they couldn’t believe that they were actually going to enjoy a memorable victory, with every man in his own half, the visitor’s tension was clearly visible, they nearly managed to sustain their adrenalin fuelled performance for the remaining minutes, but fell to a sucker punch in the final minute of normal time, after all they wouldn’t be Scotland unless they gave their loyal fans something to worry about. The disappointing Norwegians, left the field to a roar of disapproval from their own fans and hoots of derision from the overjoyed and victorious Tartan Army, who at last had something to cheer about.
Norway: Myhre, Bergdolmo, Riseth, Lundekvam, Riise, Solli, Andresen, Grindheim, Valencia, Carew, Ostenstad.
Subs: Holtan, Hangeland, Haestad, Helstad, Braaten, Karadas, Aarst.

Scotland: Gordon, Alexander, Weir, Pressley, Webster, Fletcher, Ferguson, McNamara, McFadden, Hartley, Miller.
Subs: Douglas, Severin, Thompson, Beattie, Murray, O'Neil, McCann.

Referee: Alain Hamer (Luxembourg)

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