Serbia V Scotland - EURO 2020 Playoff Final ( Thursday 12th November)

[Bairnardo]

Fucking miles aff his line aswell the glorious big b*****d that he is [emoji7][emoji7][emoji7][emoji7]

[TheScarf]

State of that goalpost.  The groundsman needs to up his game imo.

[Guest Flash]

5 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

Fucking miles aff his line aswell the glorious big b*****d that he is

He had one foot on the line as it was taken. Showed it last night on Sky, I think, can’t remember.

[HoBNob]

15 minutes ago, G51 said:

They asked them.

https://theathletic.com/2118196/2020/10/14/the-complex-relationship-of-the-rangers-support-and-the-scotland-national-team/

"Data collected by the Scottish FA in December 2018 showed that Rangers fans made up the largest percentage of Scotland Supporters’ Club Members before Aberdeen in second — there were around 24,000 total members in the last cycle."

Funny that, I wasn't asked by them at any point during that time who I supported. 

[G51]

Just now, Grant228 said:

Funny that, I wasn't asked by them at any point during that time who I supported. 

Take it up with the SFA then. Though I'm not sure why anyone would be so interested in disproving this.

[Venti]

I see England already have the Gazza '96 goal video on their twitter.

They're shiteing it already.

[G51]

Just now, Slenderman said:

I see England already have the Gazza '96 goal video on their twitter.

They're shiteing it already.

Dykes is going to absolutely bully that defence.

Our biggest advantage over England is that Clarke is a good manager and Southgate is an idiot with a waistcoat. I fancy us for that match.

[Shandon Par]

8 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

State of that goalpost.  The groundsman needs to up his game imo.

If the Serbian FA need a good painter they can PM me. Will do them a good rate. 

[Tulloch Gorum]

14 minutes ago, velo army said:

Also the arsehole voted to sever the livelihood of millions of poor and working poor. She can't f**k off enough.

Back to the present. I honestly feel like I'll never be sad again. I just feel such intense joy.

It's at moments like these that I grieve for people who aren't football supporters. They haven't the faintest idea what they're missing.

I reckon this will be spoken about for generations to come. The significance of it, not just from a football perspective, but from a national perspective, cannot be overstated (but I could give it a good go tbf). What the team did last night was to change the narrative of what it means to not just be a Scottish Football Player of supporter, but to be Scottish. The "nearly" story that has underpinned and undermined various world cup campaigns has also informed the national psyche. We've seen this play out politically in the varied failures of independence/devolution referenda, and I don't want to get into another Yes/No debate (I'm enjoying the unity surrounding the team just now) but I see them all as a wound to the national psyche that perpetuates the narrative that we "cannae dae it".

For anyone who has changed their own story, whether that be doing the therapeutic work of moving from a story of victimhood to one of empowerment and agency, or from a narrative of avoidance and separation to one of engagement and integration you'll know how much courage and character it takes, and how powerful the impact of the change. When we change our own story we also change the story of generations to come. A man from a long line of alcoholics who heals his own wounds will cease the perpetuation of the shame and silence which defined the men of previous generations of his family. The story of what it means to be a man in his family has been transformed.

Last night the team decided that the story of Scotland being a team who fall at the final hurdle and choose self sabotage over success has been re-written. It's not to say that we won't fail to qualify again, or that there won't be a last minute mistake that results in heartbreaking loss. What it means is that after last night those events, should they occur, won't have as much say in how we define ourselves as they have in the past. Before last night conceding a last minute goal was "typical Scotland" as we tell ourselves that to be Scottish is to f**k up and that to be Scottish is to not sit at the banquet with all the other countries, but to look in from the outside like the street urchins we are. Last night represented a shift from that, and we all felt it. Now when we experience failure it won't be a validation of our own unworthiness, it'll be just that, a failure. An opportunity to learn and grow, and fuel for the next success.

Deep down we all want to feel pride in being Scottish, but our own cringe has held us back. The fear that we don't deserve to enjoy success and it'll be snatched away at the last minute has held us back from truly believing in ourselves as a nation.

I have a strong feeling that the tears that poured out of us yesterday and today are from the knowledge that things have changed irrevocably, and that we can finally give ourselves permission to achieve.

 

Tl;dr; Birthday caird pish.

Long out of greenies, but that was excellent.  Being at the banquet is something I can remember from '98, my brother barely can.  Just the idea that Scotland were part  of that.  Not just the actual football, at which most teams at most tournaments don't make much of an impact - but all the colourful stuff around it.  Carlos Valderrama with his eccentric hair, tiny wee Jorge Campos with his bizarre jerseys, the Romanians all bleaching their hair (when I was a student I had a girlfriend from Romania, who said that all the boys at her primary school came in with bleached hair the very next day) - well, much as people love cringing about it for some reason, the kilts and the pipes were part of that as well, just as much as samba drums and all the weird costumes and get-up folk had on at other games.  The opening game of the tournament was us against the best team in the world - for a 9-year-old me, the best team that could be imagined: Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Cafu, Rivaldo - they were playing against Jim Leighton and Tom Boyd and Colin Hendry and yes they beat us but we weren't disgracced at all (that came later).  The whole world was watching John Collins score a goal aginst he best team on the planet.

And all that - along with World Cup and Scotland branding on every box of cereal and every advert and sticker books and tournament guide magazines and everything - that's all really vivid in my memory as a nine year old kid.  But that's the one and only set of memories I have like that.  Next year, granted it's the Euros and not the World Cup, I will have another set to add to them.  My nephews will experience that, though one of them is still probably too young to get much of it.   And I can't feckin wait.

[Honest_Man#1]

As overcome with pure joy as I am (I was 4 in 98), I also do feel robbed of the outpouring of relief after 23 years of waiting.

The emotion of last night won’t (hopefully) be repeated as it’s been pent up for so long with no qualifying at all. The feeling of being there will be sublime, but last night deserved to have everyone together getting soaked in second hand lager as that save was made. I am insanely jealous of people who were in lower tier areas that were able to celebrate it in a pub.

[bennett]

What was a great night for Scottish football and brought everyone together appears to have sadly descended in to the usual let's stick it too Sevco.  Over the years watching Scotland had became a chore and like most folk i started to get disillusioned with international games, it's been a while since I found myself getting excited for Scotland games.

This could be the first time that we get through the group stages, we don't have any superstars in the team but we've got a team thats organised/balanced and every player knows his role.

 

[djchapsticks]

19 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

Fucking miles aff his line aswell the glorious big b*****d that he is

Much as I'd love him to be, he isn't. He got it perfect....his leading leg stepped off by 3 feet. His trailing leg is right on that line the very second the ball is kicked. 

He couldn't have timed it any better.

[Venti]

Anyone else think that the fact we almost fucked it up & went through the drama of PKs made it 1000 times more emotional than winning 1-0 in normal time?

[paulbrucerick]

Definitely me last night!

[Skyline Drifter]

14 minutes ago, Grant228 said:

Funny that, I wasn't asked by them at any point during that time who I supported. 

I'm sure I was.

[forameus]

37 minutes ago, Highlandmagyar 2nd Tier said:

Ive been around plenty since we won. But dont let your lazy brain stop you from looking.

To be fair, it really wasn't that important to me to follow up on beyond that post.  Why would it be when all it was was someone being pointlessly contrarian and attention seeking?

[AllyM]

16 minutes ago, Flash said:

He had one foot on the line as it was taken. Showed it last night on Sky, I think, can’t remember.

Yes - it was even behind the line. It was very clear on the replay and the ref saw it clearly in real time as he was in the perfect position. There is no debate on this. It was a fantastic, legal (@realdonaldtrump) save.

[charger29]

[G51]

6 minutes ago, Slenderman said:

Anyone else think that the fact we almost fucked it up & went through the drama of PKs made it 1000 times more emotional than winning 1-0 in normal time?

100%.

I kinda think we had to go through that way. We had to come so close and look as if we had fucked it, only to break the curse and win at the last possible moment. It's permanently destroyed the "Glorious Failure" narrative, and now this team gets to write it's own narrative.

It felt kinda like fate, in a way. Or maybe I'm just talking a load of shite.

[SouthLanarkshireWhite]

3 hours ago, G51 said:

Try and see it from someone else's point of view then. If Walter Smith was still the manager last night and the Scotland account put out tweets referencing comments he'd made about beating Dumbarton, you'd probably be a wee bit annoyed by that.

It's the national team. We leave the club stuff at the door, that's how it works.

I agree. And whilst we are at it, and I realise some will not agree, can we leave the Yes/No stuff out of it too and let us ALL enjoy our team without trying to master the Old Firm trick of bringing politics into football.

Really good performance, didn't think they had that in them, and just dead chuffed we can get back to going to tournaments. France 98 was the last one I attended and never dreamt at the time it would be 2021 before I could go again.