EX-CELT RELIVES HORROR DAY
had given Brazil a real game and probably deserved a draw.
“Don’t forget that team went on to the Final so we proved that we were a match for anybody.”
As a player who won each of Scotland’s domestic trophies three times and starred on the internatiional stage, Boyd was of course no stranger to big games.
But to step out in the Stade de France into the glare of TV cameras beaming his image to a billion viewers worldwide, this World Cup opener easily remains the biggest occasion of his career.
And it’s with a mixture of bafflement and frustration he contemplates how 20 years on he and his mates are the last Scots players to savour that kind of grand stage.
He said: “The eyes of the world were on us and it was a fantastic occasion. I’d played in the Euros but never at the World Cup so it was something enjoy.
“Other than the Final the opening game is always one of the most watched and we knew what stage we were on.
“Everything was built up really well and we did okay against them. I guess I made sure Brazil got off on a solid footing in the tournament with that winning goal!
“It was a great time, a great experience and celebration, it really lifted the place. We are sorely missed from the World Cup as a country with the fans and it would be great to get back.”
Having come so agonisingly close to one of the country’s most famous results of all time Scotland went into their next group game against Norway with a justifiable spring in their step.
A 1-1 was the very least they deserved but when it all came down to that last game against Morrocco in St Etienne the pain was far harder to bear than his own-goal heartache against the Brazilians.
Boyd said: “The Morocco game was disappointing. We should have beaten Norway but only drew 1-1 despite being by far the better team in that match in Bordeaux.
“We were close to getting a draw against Brazil in the first match and with the level of performances in those two games we went out and underestimated Morocco. That was a big mistake because they were a good side and we simply didn’t turn up. “We lost 3-0 and the defeat could have been heavier. It was a sickening way to end the tournament. “That was the major disappointment of the tournament for me, not the own goal against Brazil. “We went into the game thinking that we had a wee chance of qualifying. “Brazil were playing Norway the same night and we thought if we won and Brazil won we’d go through. “We lost so that was that. And anyway Norway scored two late goals to beat Brazil so it wouldn’t have mattered if we had beaten Morocco in terms of getting through.
“But it mattered to us at the time. It was a terrible way to go out.
“The Brazil match, despite the outcome, remains a highlight though. For me, there was only one moment in my career when I felt more proud walking on to a football pitch and that was when I made my debut for the national team against Romania in 1990.
“But that day in Paris is right up there with anything I experienced in football.
“To play in the opening game of the World Cup would have been special against anybody but to face Brazil, with billions watching, was a once-in-a-lifetime moment.”