Dare to dream
World Cup hopes kept alive with goals from Berra & Griffiths
SCOTT BROWN last night branded manky Maltese Steve Borg a “horrible b ***** d” for spitting on him during Scotland’s vital World Cup win.
The Scots skipper couldn’t believe it when Borg gobbed at him in the second half of a 2-0 triumph that kept Gordon Strachan’s side on track for a play-off place.
Although the Scots dropped to fourth in Group F last night on goal difference they are now just a point behind second-placed Slovakia who lost 2-1 in England.
So if Strachan’s side beat the Slovaks at Hampden then win in Slovenia they should seal a play-off place. But Brown admitted the incident with Borg took some of the shine off a win secured by goals from Christophe Berra and Leigh Griffiths.
Borg’s disgrace occurred just seconds after the Scotland skipper had been involved in an altercation with Alfred Effiong.
Brown, who was a booking away from missing next month’s clash against Slovakia, managed to keep his cool and not retaliate.
And the Celtic star said: “He did spit on me, he is a horrible b ***** d. He put his hand up to apologise but I managed to keep my head and
the main thing was getting the three points.
“It was about the team, not about one guy, bookings or anything like that.
“We played really well, at our tempo. We were patient with the ball and created chances from that.”
England did the Scots a favour by beating Slovakia at Wembley – with the Tartan Army cheering their goals at Hampden.
And Brown said: “It was a great result from England as well. We knew we had to win our game and then just hope they gave us a helping hand.
“I didn’t really notice the cheering, I thought the fans were maybe cheering us for keeping the ball.
“I didn’t know England had been a goal down, we only found that out after.
“The Slovakia game will be massive now and I hope the fans come out and support us next month.”
Boss Strachan hailed his players for never giving up on the quest for a place at the finals in Russia.
The final double-header comes after a run of 10 points from a possible 12 which has turned Strachan’s campaign around.
And he said: “I am pleased with loads of things. Most of all, the players had the belief when things weren’t going well to pick themselves up and go again.
“They showed that no matter what the belief was elsewhere, they had belief in themselves. We have put ourselves in a position now where we go into the final couple of games still with a chance of the play-offs.
“Would I have bitten someone’s hand off for that earlier in the campaign? Well, I might not have been that nasty! But yeah, I’d have said thanks very much.
“If you think of that last-minute goal against England, where we could have been … but we’re still there. I’m all right with that.
“When you get to the stage when you your fate is in your own hands that’s all you can ask.
“You can look back and say we could have done better there, there and there but we have tried to make up for bad performances or low-key performances by doing the best we can.”
Asked about next month’s do-or-die double header, he said: “I’m looking forward to getting a decent cup of tea. I might start thinking about that later on. I’m not thinking about that now.
“We have to keep an eye on the players for the next four or five weeks, make sure they are all on top form.
“By the time it comes round again, there might be other guys ready to go or some guys injured.”
Strachan stuck with the same starting 11 from the 3-0 romp in Lithuania, resisting the temptation to freshen his side up.
But, despite a far more sluggish performance this time out, he insists the stats show he got his selection bang on.
He added: “We had 25 attempts at goal and that says it all. It’s 48 attempts for the last two games.
“That’s good enough to win games of football. You don’t make that amount of chances all the time at international level.
“The work they put in, the running off the ball, the bravery – 48 attempts at goal. That’s not bad.
“We could have scored more goals tonight but were maybe a wee bit tired.
“That was more than enough tonight. It got to the point where the boys just wanted to kill it off and make sure we kept the ball.”
Malta boss Pietro Ghedin is tipping Scotland to grab a play-off place.
He said: “If they play like this they can achieve the result of coming runner-up. They played like a machine.”