Burley still can’t believe his goal against Norway was Scots’ final flourish
CRAIG BURLEY, the former Celtic and Scotland midfielder, has acknowledged he couldn’t have imagined just how long Scotland would go into international freefall after the 1998 World Cup.
It was 22 years ago today when Burley lined up in the Stade de France as Scotland took centre stage for a glamarous curtain-raiser against Brazil. That defeat and the final group defeat to Morocco were sandwiched with a win over Norway but ensured that Scotland’s long tradition of never going past the group stages was kept intact.
The thought that it would be his last involvement in a major tournament let alone the beginning of a long exile from international football wasn’t something that Burley had imagined. The ESPN pundit, who now resides in the States, remains the last Scotsman to have scored at a World Cup.
“I didn’t think it would be the last tournament I would be at with Scotland let alone the last tournament Scotland would be at,” he said. “I remember that goal against Norway so clearly, least of all because I initially thought I had hit the roof of the net with my lob.
“I knew Frode Grodas, the Norway keeper, from my Chelsea days and he is a big, imposing guy. I thought I’d put too much on it. When I realised it had gone in, well, it is an amazing feeling. I feel for so many Scotland players who have missed out on that in the last couple of generations because the emotion of that moment, of scoring for your country at a World Cup, is indescribable.”
Steve Clarke still harbours ambitions of being the first man to lead Scotland back to a major tournament. The impact of Covid-19 put the play-off for the European Championships on hold but Burley accepts that every manager who takes the job expects that they are the right man to lead Scotland back to former glories.
“Steve should knighted for the have been job he did at
Kilmarnock on the budget of a bottle of Irn-Bru and a packet of Minstrels,” he joked. “But every manager thinks he is the one who can unlock it, who can find the magic and be the guy to take us back to that stage.
“It is such a difficult ask. You think that it is an impossible job but then every time the role comes up there is no shortage of people wanting it. Steve will think he is the one to get it right but only time will tell.”
Meanwhile, Burley’s reminisces about the game against Brazil still raise a smile two decades on with former Scotland manager Craig Brown playing a starring role.
“When we headed out into this airy, expansive tunnel, Brazil were already out and had lined up hand-in-hand,” recalled Burley. “It’s the opening game of the World Cup. There is so much razzmatazz all over the place. There are 80,000 in the stadium. There are dignitaries everywhere. There is noise and colour surrounding you. There is a band out on the pitch. The eyes of the world are on this game. But we finally get out of the dressing room and see the Brazilians in those iconic shirts, Ronaldo, Cafu, Roberto Carlos and Bebeto – genuine world-class players – and Craig points over to their hand-holding entrance and says, ‘look, they’re s ****** g it from you.’”
There is an argument to suggest the humour didn’t quite eliminate the sense of tension; the fact that it took Cesar Sampaio just four minutes to score from a corner would suggest some kind of stage fright.
John Collins’ penalty and Tom Boyd’s own-goal is Scotland’s tournament fate in microcosm; the plucky show and the sickening sucker punch.
“I remember the opening goal going in and thinking it could get messy,” admitted Burley.
“But we steadied ourselves. In some ways I think the defeat would have been so much easier to take if Ronaldo had beaten four men and pinged one into the top corner, as he was more than capable of doing. There was little Tom could do for their goal. It was pure bad luck.
“We didn’t feel sorry for ourselves afterwards in the dressing room. But I do think there was that sense we could have got a bit more.”