10 Glorious Scotland International Football Failures
After Scotland's latest footballing heartbreak, let's look at some of the "greatest" down the years.
Glorious failure can be defined in different ways. Sometimes it's an achievement to overall be proud of that ultimately ends in defeat. Other times, it's just a catastrophic defeat when success is so close. Whatever your definition of the term, no-one does it quite like Scotland at football.
Scotland have regularly turned failure into an art form on the international stage. For many years they were the only team in history to be undefeated in the World Cup group stage yet still be eliminated. That's child's play compared to some Scottish summers. As ridiculous as 'One team in Tallinn' was, Scotland actually qualified despite a frustrating 0-0 draw in the rearranged fixture. Mart Poom's inspired night in Monaco almost left the Tartan Army watching France '98 from afar. That, however, was just a taste of what was to come over the next 20 years.
Saturday at Hampden was the latest in a long line of "only Scotland" moments. As the team stutters through yet another qualifying campaign likely to end in failure, we remember times where the Tartan Army made it to tournaments, and wonder if it's really worth qualifying at all. Since their last appearance at a major, there have been some ridiculous qualifying escapades, from Torshavn to Tbilisi, that have resulted in Scotland staring at two decades in the international wilderness.
When Chris Iwelumo's miss doesn't make the cut, you know you're in for a "treat."
10. Peru 3-1 Scotland (3 June 1978)
And we'll really shake them up when we win the World Cup.
Everything was going just fine as Joe Jordan gave Scotland the lead in their opening game of the 1978 World Cup. A Peruvian equaliser just before half-time was no big deal, right? Such was the insane optimism among the Tartan Army heading into this tournament, surely the second half would see Scotland steamroll these unknowns into oblivion?
On the hour mark, a foul on Bruce Rioch gave Don Masson a chance to put this nonsense to bed. His spot kick was saved by the now infamous Ramon Quiroga, and a late double by Teofilio Cubillas was the ultimate humiliation for a Scotland side who had clearly underestimated their opposition and overestimated their own abilities. Peru would later go onto lose 6-0 to Argentina in a game that is still talked about to this day. But if you think we're done with 1978...