Scotland 6 - 0 Faroe IslandsWALTER SMITH'S side began their campaign in fine fashion as five first-half goals laid the foundation for an emphatic victory at Celtic Park, the stadium standing in for Hampden Park due to a clash of
dates with a Robbie Williams gig.
The Scots took the lead in the seventh minute, Kenny Miller wriggling free down the left to cross low for Darren Fletcher to touch in at the far post. Three minutes later, Miller turned cleverly on the edge of the area before the ball broke perfectly for James McFadden to curl a low left-foot effort into the corner. Oli Johannesen was then adjudged to have brought down McFadden and Rangers striker Kris Boyd stepped up to beat Jakup Mikkelsen from the spot. The Faroese keeper was picking the ball out of his net again six minutes later after Atli Danielsen handled Fletcher's cross, giving Miller the chance to score the penalty. Fletcher also contributed to Scotland's fifth in the 38th minute, his clever through pass allowing Boyd to outwit Mikkelsen at the second attempt. The second half was a tepid affair but Garry O'Connor added a sixth goal with five minutes left.
September 6 2006
Lithuania1 - 2 Scotland
SCOTLAND made it two wins out of two as second-half goals from Christian Dailly and Kenny Miller secured the points in Kaunas.
Lithuania, buoyed by their 1-1 draw in Italy three days before, started brightly and defender Tomas Zvirgzdauskas saw his shot cleared off the line by Dailly.
The Scots needed only a minute of the second half to move in front when Dailly climbed high to meet Gary Naysmith's outswinging corner and nod powerfully past Karcemarskas. Miller then collected his second booking of the campaign - to miss the home clash against France the following month - but made his presence felt with an excellent second goal, latching on to a bouncing ball and controlling with his chest before blasting home a volley.
Lithuania set up a barnstorming finish when substitute Darius Miceika pulled one back courtesy of a spectacular overhead kick with six minutes to play. However, Scotland held on.
October 7 2006
Scotland 1 - 0 FranceSCOTLAND stunned the football world as Gary Caldwell's strike game them a famous win at Hampden.
The Scots endured fierce pressure from the World Cup finalists as Thierry Henry cracked a free-kick off the post while skipper Patrick Vieira and striker David Trezeguet both saw goals disallowed for offside. Having survived to the break, the Scots grew in confidence and Hampden exploded in the 67th minute as Caldwell, pictured right, met Paul Hartley's corner to steer a low shot past French keeper Gregory Coupet. France had chances to draw level notably when Henry sent a free header straight at Gordon in the closing minutes but Scotland held out. French coach Raymond Domenech was guilty of sour grapes after the match when he moaned that the ball boys helped Scotland's cause by taking too long to return the ball to the field of play.
But, after three matches, the Scots sat top of Group B with maximum points and the Tartan Army were in dreamland. The dark days of Berti Vogts' reign seemed a distant memory.
October 11 2006
Ukraine 2 - 0 ScotlandSCOTLAND'S 100 per cent winning start came to an end as second-half goals from Olexandr Kucher and Andriy Shevchenko earned Ukraine victory in Kiev.
Scotland's resistance cracked on the hour when Kucher beat Gordon with a low shot. Steven Pressley saw red for a foul on Shevchenko and the Ukraine talisman sealed the win in the 90th minute with a penalty after being fouled by Hearts defender Robbie Neilson, who was making his international debut.
March 24 2007
Scotland 2 - 1 GeorgiaTHE Tartan Army was stunned when Walter Smith quit his post to make his return to Rangers.
However, they and new boss Alex McLeish were soon smiling as substitute Craig Beattie's 89th-minute winner kept Scotland on track for the finals.
It seemed the home side would have to settle for a point as Shota Arveladze cancelled out Kris Boyd's early opener near the end of the first half. The Scots were unable to breach the visitors' defence again until Beattie controlled a Kenny Miller flick on his chest and steered a left-foot shot beyond Georgi Lomaia.
March 27 2007
Italy 2 - 0 ScotlandWORLD champions Italy moved within two points of the Scots at the top of Group B as Luca Toni's two goals earned them a deserved win in Bari.
Italy had won all five previous home meetings with the Scots, and it took them only 12 minutes to make the breakthrough as Massimo Oddo sent a free-kick into the box and Toni headed into the left-hand corner of the net.
Though Scotland began poorly, they recovered well after falling behind.Lee McCulloch fired a half-volley straight at Buffon and, on the stroke of half-time, lone striker Kenny Miller narrowly failed to make a clean connection with a far-post header from Gary Naysmith's cross.
In the 49th minute, Mauro Camoranesi sent Antonio Di Natale clean through down the inside-left channel but Craig Gordon made a fine one-handed save.
On 70 minutes, however, Toni struck again, getting on the end of Camoranesi's right-wing cross with a telling header.
June 6
Faroe Islands 0 - 2 Scotland A TIRED-LOOKING Scotland ground out a vital three points in Toftir.
Shaun Maloney broke the deadlock in the 31st minute with a perfectly executed free-kick before Garry O'Connor clinched the win four minutes later.
The Faroes rallied in the second period, Christian Lamhauge Holst seeing an effort come back off the post and into the arms of Craig Gordon. Then Andrew Flotum wriggled through two challenges before striking the crossbar with a fierce attempt.
September 8 2007
Scotland 3 - 1 LithuaniaSCOTLAND gained a priceless win - but it was Hearts' Lithuanian star Saulius Mikoliunas who almost stole the show. Miko conned Slovenian referee Damir Skomina into awarding a penalty - scored by Tomas Danilevicius in the 61st minute to equalise Kris Boyd's opener - despite Scotland ace Darren Fletcher making no contact with the midfielder. However, Stephen McManus and James McFadden struck late on to keep Scotland in the hunt.
September 12 2007
France 0 - 1 ScotlandLIGHTNING struck twice as James McFadden's stunning goal midway through the second half secured an incredible win.
Around 25,000 Scotland fans made the trip to the Parc des Princes,Paris and they witnessed one of the greatest victories in their country's history.
The home side had the lion's share of the play but, missing the suspended Thierry Henry, could not beat the stubborn visiting defence. Florent Malouda did force Craig Gordon into a save while Claude Makelele volleyed over, but that was as close as France came before the break.
A neat one-two with David Trezeguet on 55 minutes set up Franck Ribery, but the Bayern Munich star's angled shot was well stopped by Gordon, as was his effort on the rebound. Soon after, Lassana Diarra and Ribery combined to supply Nicolas Anelka near the penalty spot yet Gordon pushed the ball over the bar.
Then came the moment Scotland had been dreaming of. McFadden let fly from 35 yards with such ferocity that Mickael Landreau could only tip the ball into his own top right-hand corner. It was all France thereafter, but Scotland's rearguard remained impregnable and boss Alex McLeish was left to savour the most memorable night of his managerial career so far.
October 13 2007
Scotland 3 - 1 UkraineSCOTLAND remained on course with a superb display.
The home side were quickly into their stride thanks to early goals from Kenny Miller and Lee McCulloch. Although Andriy Shevchenko halved the deficit midway through the opening period, James McFadden made sure of the points to leave his side clear of Italy and France with two games to play and to effectively end Ukraine's slender qualification hopes.
Georia 2 - 0 Scotland
GEORGIA put a major dent in Scotland's hopes. Denied the services of Scott Brown, Lee McCulloch, Alan Hutton, Paul Hartley and Gary Naysmith, Alex McLeish put out an attacking line-up which was overpowered by a youthful Georgian side. The Scots did little in attack - failing to test 17-year-old debutant goalkeeper Giorgi Makaridze - and crashed after goals from Levan Mchedlidze and David Siradze to set up tomorrow's all or nothing clash with Italy.
