Faramir

EUROS

***

13.6.16
Gradski Stadion Sartid 1813, Smederevo, Yugoslavia
Scotland (1) Poland (1)
Scotland- A.Rollo 8
Poland- P.Brozek 7
MOM- Jamie Langfield, Scotland

Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 9 Stephen Crainey- 7 Richard Montgomery- 8, Philip McGuire- 8, Andrew Rollo- 7, Mark McNeil- 8, Stephen Pearson- 7, Paul Elliott- 7, Ian Knox- 6, Steve Duncan- 7, Ian Duncan- 6, Ross O'Donoghue- 7 (on 25 for Knox), Kiegan Parker- 6 (on 52 for Ian Duncan)

Jamie Langfield saved our bacon in that first match against Poland. Despite Pawel Brozek making a curling shot past Langfield, we felt pretty good and Andrew Rollo blistered a volley on a pass from Mark McNeil past Marcin Jacinski to quickly equalize things. Rollo's free kick was our last offense of the match though. When Ian Knox went down, boy you could feel the wind disappear from our sails. Knox was the man the Scot press was trumpeting that would lead us- after all he had helped get us through to the World Cup Finals. Instead, midway through the first half of our first match, he was injured and everyone knew when they carted him off that he was out for the rest of the tournament. Without his offensive explosiveness we fell completely flat against a very good Polish side. They were all over our end for the rest of the match- they ended up outshooting us 18-4 for the match. But Jamie wouldn't yield. Both Richard Montgomery and Philip McGuire did an excellent job policing the area in front of Langfield and disposing of any rebounds he gave up. In the end Langfield stymied the good Polish forward tandem of Brozek and Robert Jablonski and we escaped with a 1-1 draw. In the other Group match Cup Host Yugoslavia managed to battle England to a scoreless draw.

Faramir

16.6.16
Stadion Crvene Zvezde-Markana, Belgrade, Yugoslavia
England (1) Scotland (4)
England- B.Ellis 48
Scotland- A.Rollo 3 S.Duncan 49,58 D.Fletcher 79
MOM- Darren Fletcher, Scotland

Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 8 Stephen Crainey- 6 Richard Montgomery- 7, Philip McGuire- 9, Andrew Rollo- 8, Mark McNeil- 7, Mark Kerr- 6, Paul Elliott- 9, Darren Fletcher- 10, Steve Duncan- 8, Ian Duncan- 8, Ross O'Donoghue- 7 (on 78 for Kerr), Steven Brown- 8 (on 30 for Montgomery)

Veteran leadership- that is what about tournaments at the level of European Championships and World Cups are about. With Knox out, we knew it would be a tough battle against our bitter foes. This was the match of the first round- the biggest rivalry- and it was going to be televised all over Europe. I talked to Darren Fletcher before the match, when I let him know he would be starting in place of Knox, we talked about how he needed to be an impact player- to take some of the pressure off our young playmaker Paul Elliott. All credit to him- Darren stepped up and helped carry us - he really earned the boost in everyone's eyes that he received from his performance. We stunned England in the early going when skipper Andrew Rollo boomed a free kick past James Johnson. England pressured us, but we kept consistently counterattacking them in the first half- so the match had a wonderfully balletic flow to it- it must have been fun to watch, well somewhere besides on the sideline that is. Johnson steadied and we couldn't score on him again. Jamie Langfield was also again providing yeoman work in our net- and we kept the 1-0 lead going to the dressing room. England came out renewed in the second half- as we had warned the boys they would- and Christopher Downey zipped a pass that their fine midfielder Barry Ellis volleyed past Langfield to have them back to 1-1 in the opening moments. It was a great sign of the heart that we had when Mark Kerr got up to intercept Downey's clearing kick moments later. Kerr headed to Elliott, who knifed through their midfield, and made a picture-perfect pass to Steve Duncan, who had slipped his marker. Duncan chipped the ball past Johnson, who was a bit slow to react to the play, and just like that- we had a 2-1 lead again and had crushed the sudden English momentum. Soon after Darren made his brilliant run. He went past Steve Rowland and Joe Cole at full speed with the ball and then found Steve Duncan, who again had slipped marking, and gave him a sensational cross. Duncan drove the ball past Johnson and we had a 3-1 lead and we could sense we had England in deep trouble. They started moving men up to the attack and we bided our time waiting for a counterattacking chance, while doing a good job in coverage. At 79 minutes, we got our chance when Elliott stepped in front of a pass for Ellis and was away. The English defense seemed to surge to him- and he slotted the ball nicely for Fletcher. Darren took the ball into the area and then drilled a low shot that caught Johnson flat-footed and beat him for our 4th goal. With the 4-1 lead, we worked hard and closed out our bitter rivals and kept the final 4-1 margin. The match cost us Richard Montgomery for the rest of the tournament when he went down with a calf injury. In the other Group match, Poland edged Yugoslavia 1-0 on a late goal and we were tied atop the Group.

Brian of Nazareth

I dunno whether to celebrate or cry... ah screw it - \o/ great win Ecosse come one at least a point in the next match.

Faramir

Thanks Brian

***

21.6.16
Stadion Crvene Zvezde-Markana, Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (2) Scotland (2)
Yugoslavia- D.Mijanovic 4 M.Lazic 72
Scotland- M.Kerr 6 I.Duncan 27
MOM- Jovan Rankovic, Yugoslavia

Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 7 Stephen Crainey- 6 Brian Brown- 7, Philip McGuire- 8, Andrew Rollo- 6, Mark McNeil- 7, Mark Kerr- 7, Paul Elliott- 7, Darren Fletcher- 7, Steve Duncan- 7, Ian Duncan- 8, Kiegan Parker- 6 (on 72 for Steve Duncan), Stephen Pearson- 7 (on 67 for Kerr), Shaun Maloney- 7 (on 67 for Elliott)

Our task against Yugoslavia was dreadfully simple- win or draw and we would move on to the Quarter-finals. If Yugoslavia won, they would move on instead of us. When Jamie Langfield let Dejan Mijanovic's shot trickle past him for the early goal- well it was tough. The crowd was electric and I was hoping the boys wouldn't rattle. I needn't have worried though as Mark Kerr scored one of the biggest goals of his illustrious career to even things two minutes later. It was just a loose ball, but Kerr's heads up awareness put him in the right place to reach the ball and hit a hard grass-cutter that eluded Miodrag Zivkovic and we were even at 1-1, with the crowd calming a bit. After several minutes of weathering their increased pressure, Mark McNeil started as pretty a passing sequence as you will see. McNeil chipped it out to Kerr on the left side. Kerr sent a sizzling pass across to Darren Fletcher who was just inside the area. Fletcher laid the ball off for Steve Duncan and Duncan sent the ball across into the six yard box. Ian Duncan dove and deflected the ball past Zivkovic to stun both their club and the crowd as we moved ahead 2-1. With them on their back feet now, we tried hard to land another goal before halftime, but couldn't find the range as we had good chances- but missed wide or high. The second half started quietly as the play tarried in the midfield for much of the opening moments, but then you could feel the momentum start to swing toward the home side. The fans were really into the match- it was among the loudest support I can remember during my managing- and they were a bit fresher than we were condition-wise. I tried subbing on Pearson and Maloney to regain some control of the play, but it didn't work and Miroslav Lazic made a nice run past a tired McGuire and beat Langfield cleanly to even the match at 2-2. With everything on the line, the boys gathered themselves and battled hard for every loose ball and refused to allow Yugoslavia room to manuever in our end. They may have controlled the ball, but they couldn't do anything with that control. Just as we moved into injury time, Slobodan Jovanovic outleaped a very tired Stephen Crainey. Jovanovic headed the ball to Bojan Djordjic, who crossed smartly to Predrag Kovacevic. Kovacevic got a good head on the ball, but Jamie Langfield made a brilliant save as he tipped the ball over the bar. That turned out to be their last good chance and we held on for the 2-2 draw that allowed us to move to the Quarterfinals. We suffered another key injury as we lost Steve Duncan for the rest of the tournament to an ankle injury. In the other Group match, Poland and England battled to a wild 3-3 draw on a late Polish equalizer.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * European Football Championship - Wednesday 22nd June 2016********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2016 Tables============================================ ================================================== ==Group 1Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Q Scotland 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 6 3 5 2nd Q Poland 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 4 4 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Yugoslavia 3 0 2 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 2 4th England 3 0 1 1 4 7 0 1 0 0 0 2 Group 2Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Q Italy 3 0 0 1 1 3 2 0 0 5 2 6 2nd Q Russia 3 0 2 0 2 2 1 0 0 3 1 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Finland 3 1 0 1 2 2 0 1 0 1 1 4 4th Norway 3 0 0 1 2 4 0 1 1 2 3 1 Group 3Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Q Belgium 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 1 7 2nd Q Holland 3 1 0 1 2 1 1 0 0 3 1 6 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd France 3 1 0 1 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 4 4th Bosnia 3 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 2 0 4 0 Group 4Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Q Denmark 3 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 3 0 7 2nd Q Ireland 3 0 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Germany 3 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 1 2 4 4th Greece 3 0 0 2 0 4 0 0 1 0 2 0 </pre>

Faramir

26.6.16
Gradski Stadion Sartid 1813, Smederevo, Yugoslavia European Championships Quarter-final
Scotland (1) Russia (0)
Scotland- D.Fletcher 57
Russian- None
MOM- Darren Fletcher, Scotland

Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 7 Stephen Crainey- 8 Brian Brown- 8, Steven Brown- 8, Andrew Rollo- 9, Kevin Henderson- 8, Mark Kerr- 7, Paul Elliott- 7, Darren Fletcher- 9, Kiegan Parker- 6, Ian Duncan- 6, Stephen Pearson- 6 (on 62 for Kerr), Mark Anderson- 7 (on 80 for Parker)

We were forced to go with a mish-mash lineup in the Quarter-final against Russia. Mark McNeil and Philip McGuire were both suspended for the match- due to yellow cards received against Yugoslavia. With Knox, Montgomery and Steve Duncan all out- we barely had enough for the sub bench. Kevin Henderson was replacing McNeil- and it would be a challenge for the youngster who had only been capped once before the tourney and had never played the role I was asking him to play. Steven Brown was filling in for McGuire. Russia was a very experienced squad- as we well knew from past meetings- they had beaten us twice in Group qualifying. Ian Duncan and Kiegan Parker had good chances for us in the opening moments of the first half, but Nikolay Filimonov kept both of them out. We spent the rest of the first half doggedly defending Jamie Langfield. Our midfield and backline did a good job of forcing them to take longer shots- and Langfield just kept gobbling them up. I was happy enough to go to the dressing room scoreless- but I knew we needed to show a bit more offensively, just to help take some of the pressure off Langfield. After Russia barely missed scoring twice at the start of the second half, it was Darren Fletcher's moment to be a hero. Fully against the run of their pressure- he picked up a ball just inside midfield and then beat a midfielder and defender before rocketing a shot past Filimonov. We battened down the hatches and defended staunchly as the Russians came at us in waves. When the final whistle blew- we still held our 1-0 margin and were moving on the Semi-finals. The other Quarter-final results were Ireland edging Belgium 1-0, Holland winning over Denmark 2-1 on a late goal, and Poland knocking out Italy on Penalties after a 1-1 regulation score.

Faramir

No, I'm sorry. I don't have transcriptions of the European Champ Semi-final- like the ones for the World Cup- a friend who followed the WC on the Internet sent me those, but he was there in person when we faced Holland in the Semi-finals.

29.6.16
Gradski Stadion Sartid 1813, Smederevo, Yugoslavia European Championships Semi-final
Scotland (0) Holland (1)
Scotland- None
Holland- M. van der Ven 90
MOM- Rene van Dijk, Holland

Scotland- Jamie Langfield- 7 Stephen Crainey- 7 Brian Brown- 6, Philip McGuire- 8, Andrew Rollo- 6, Mark McNeil- 7, Mark Kerr- 5, Paul Elliott- 5, Darren Fletcher- 6, Kiegan Parker- 7, Ian Duncan- 5, Stephen Pearson- 5 (on 53 for Kerr), Steven Brown- 5 (on 32 for Parker)

I was worried going into the Semifinals. Because of the injuries, our key players were close to running on fumes- Paul Elliott was very tired going into the match, but they all wanted to be out there- you couldn't doubt their heart and desire. Still, we had hope- and Jamie Langfield and I figured that gave us a chance. Hope left us early that match though- I still find it hard to believe that the referee could so blithely whip out a redcard- it was the Semi-finals for goodness sake! When it came out, not only was Andrew Rollo crestfallen- but the whole club was. Rollo had been the skipper for the entire time since I had taken over the National side and to see him walk off, it was painful to me- it was painful to them. I think even Holland had a bit of remorse watching him take the long walk. The fans couldn't see it- but there were tears in his eyes as he headed to the dressing room, he felt he had let the boys down. It took a lot of the soul of the side out when he left, beyond the fact we had to contend with Holland with only 10 men for another 60 minutes (off at the 30 minute mark). Still, I have to give them credit- our goal was to go to half scoreless and try to figure out what to do from there and they worked their best to get there. Through hard work and tough coverage- we went to halftime scoreless. The problems we faced at halftime were daunting- they were much fresher than we were (condition-wise) and they also had a significant edge in both pace and realistically in skill. All we could do was play solid in our end and hope we might spring an attack. They had none of that though, we really never got the chance to spring the attack- as their ball movement was excellent in the second half. The only thing that even kept us in the match was Jamie Langfield's superb play. I was dearly hoping that we could string things out to extra-time and penalties- that was the only way I thought we could win. It didn't happen. In the waning moments of extra time, PSV's brilliant Mario Robben (I thought of him as the heir to Seedorf) turned on the jets and went past our tired defenders. As Langfield challenged him, he crossed and it was Mario van der Ven who reached the ball for a tap into the open net. We were all numb as the final moments trickled away and the whistle sounded to send Holland to the Finals.

***

When did I know? As soon as the final whistle sounded actually. You know who else realized it- he must have seen it in my eyes- Stephen Pearson. He came over and hugged me and I admit there were some tears there. We had started together 16 seasons ago at Motherwell- he was there when I gave my first talk to a bunch of believing, but slightly incredulous youngsters. I told them then that we would go out and prove Scots are the equal of any in football, but I know neither of us expected where that trail had led us. I had already gathered the words I would use when I made my statement retiring as Manager moments later in the press conference following the Semi-final.

It was time for me to leave. The youngsters I had started out shepherding were dwindling as they ended their time in football. Now, the new batch of young Scot talent was on hand to carry the torch further- and rightfully I felt it should be another to lead them on to their own glory- I already had mine. Reaching the Finals of the World Cup and the Semifinals of European Championships were the crowning achievements for me- it was enough. I went back to the Castle- they had been trying to talk me back for a year or so.

No, that would be such a stupid title- "Bellhorn's Bellows"- bah, what crap. "The Return of the Scots", better- but that really isn't true- I don't like it either. A suggestion? Hmm, how about what I told the young Motherwell boys long ago-- "We Were Lions". Ah, you like that- well good enough for a book title for me as well.

No--- thank you! It was great to reminisce about all those wonderful times- I really enjoyed it! Old men are like that, you know. Yes, you can certainly make copies of anything here in the library, just let me know if you need anything more.

The reporter stood and solemnly shook the hand of the elderly man, he could see the man's eyes were misted over with the sheen of undropped tears. One of the Castle's attendants came and gently wheeled the man back down the long corridor to his bedroom

***

The End

Thanks to everyone who stuck around- I certainly didn't want to go this long to finish the Challenge- but I didn't have much choice

All the Best- Faramir

Brian of Nazareth

Congratulations Faramir, not quite the dream ending I suppose but still a fantastic read all the same. The reminisicing style worked a treat

bjorn

congratulations on a nice story and on completing the challenge :thup: