HAIRS OUT OF PLACE
Bearded Saudis had some nerve as ex-Ger Neil fought to keep cool
NERVES didn’t often get the better of Neil Murray.
The former Rangers midfielder recalls only twice the butterflies became overwhelming, a Champions League clash with Marseille and a World Cup Final.
As part of Scotland’s unforgettable run to a Hampden penalty shootout defeat to a bearded Under-16 Saudi Arabia in front of 58,000 fans, it was to be an early career highlight.
Murray would win four league titles with Rangers during their nine-in-a-row run and scored what proved to be the crucial goal in the Ibrox side’s 1993 Scottish Cup win against Aberdeen at Celtic Park.
But climbing off the bench that afternoon in Mount Florida was one of the more anxious moments of a career which was about to provide a steep learning curve.
He said: “I remember getting ready to come on and the overwhelming feeling being one of nervousness.
“I only experienced it once again in my career with Rangers and big games and that was in a Champions League game in Marseille.
“That feeling of anxiety that just one mistake could cost us the entire tournament. I was only 19 or 20 in Marseille but I was up against Abedi Pele so that may have been something to do with it.
“The only other time I felt that way was coming on as a sub in the final at Hampden.
“The pitch was so big for boys at 16, I remember feeling the game could be decided by one error and you didn’t want to be the one making it and the game would slip away from us.”
Scotland were two up inside 25 minutes after goals by Ian Downie and Paul Dickov only to be pegged back by the Saudis before a sudden-death penalty ending had Dickov and Brian O’Neill missing from the spot. O’Neill had a penalty saved in normal time.
SFA secretary at the time Ernie Walker offered his thoughts on the apparent physical development of the opposition. He said: “We were cheated. It was so obvious, the Saudi keeper looked like Peter Shilton.
“I was told by a coach one player was married with three children and a captain in the Royal Guard. Everyone tacitly acknowledged we were done but proving it was the problem.”
Murray prefers to look on that tournament as providing a platform for moving on to enjoy a successful career in football. He said: “A lot of the subsequent games stand out as being more memorable.
“It was a fantastic achievement for a Scottish side to reach a World Cup Final. People talk about the Saudi Arabian side but I look back at Portugal, East Germany and Ghana who were brilliant sides with some terrific players who would go on and have careers at the highest level. For a group of Scots teenagers to do so well was remarkable.
“I know some will look at home advantage giving us the edge. But it was the common belief we had as a squad and coaching staff which carried us through that tournament as well as an unbreakable team spirit.
“We had been together as a group for months and played in the European Championships in May. I remember sitting my higher maths and English in France at the finals.”
Murray, who remained in football in the agency side of the game, recalls trying to make his way at Rangers after the high of Hampden.
He said: “When we started training with our professional clubs and started to play with boys three or four years older, you quickly realise you’ve so much still to learn.
“But playing on that stage at Hampden and in front of all those fans gave us a carrot if we wanted to play in those types of games again you need to dig in and work hard. “I would be back at Hampden with Rangers when we beat Celtic during the days they played there as Parkhead was being refurbished.”