Iceland have left us out in the cold
GARY NAYSMITH reckons Scotland should look to World Cup surprise package Iceland for inspiration 15 years to the day he helped sink them.
The Queen of the South boss hit his first international goal on this day in 2002 as Berti Vogts’s side won a Euro 2014 qualifier 2-0 in Reykjavik.
Scotland went on to lose a play-off to Holland after finishing second to Germany in their group and have never been as close to a major finals since.
Iceland on the other hand followed up last year’s run to the quarters of the Euros by becoming the smallest nation to ever reach a World Cup when they beat Kosovo 2-0 on Monday night.
Naysmith, who followed up a Christian Dailly header to earn Vogts his first win as Scotland boss, said: “Iceland had Hermann Hreidarsson at the back and Eidur Gudjohnsen up front in that game but overall as a team they have improved dramatically since then.
“They have more players playing at a top level now and have shown that by qualifying for the World Cup.
“They were in a group with Turkey, Ukraine and Croatia and that shows you they are doing something right on the back of beating England and having a good European Championship in France last year.
“They are having a real purple patch as 15 years ago I would not have expected that Scotland would not have qualified for another tournament and Iceland would have.
“Their success takes away the argument from us that being a small country hinders you.”
Naysmith’s goal was one of only 11 in his career as the left-back cracked a shot into the top corner.
And he added: “No one was as surprised as me as I had never done anything with my right foot before.”