Scots gain slender lead over Dutch
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McFadden: "We owe this win to the defense."
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EURO 2004 PLAYOFFS
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• Second legs on Wednesday
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| EURO 2004 QUALIFIERS |
Portugal (hosts), France, Denmark, Czech Republic, Sweden, Germany, Greece, England, Bulgaria, Italy, Switzerland.
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GLASGOW, Scotland -- Scotland take a one-goal advantage to Amsterdam for the second leg of their Euro 2004 qualifier with the Netherlands after James McFadden earned them a 1-0 win at Hampden Park.
The young Everton winger caught out Dutch keeper Edwin van der Sar on 22 minutes with a slightly-deflected left-footed shot.
Frank De Boer, Jaap Stam and Clarence Seedorf all went close on a busy afternoon for Scottish keeper Rab Douglas, but the visitors couldn't find an equalizer.
The result puts the Dutch, considered one of Europe's most talented squads, under huge pressure for the return leg on Wednesday.
Coach Dick Advocaat says he will quit if his side fails to qualify for next summer's finals in Portugal.
"In the first half we never controlled the match because we lost the midfield battle by keeping four defenders back," said Advocaat.
"We created six or seven chances, but just failed to score. We showed for sure in the second half that we are eager to qualify for Portugal, so this result is very disappointing."
The 1988 European champions missed out on last year's World Cup and lost to the Czech Republic in their final Euro 2004 qualifier to finish second in Group Three.
"This is a terrible result for us," said Dutch captain De Boer.
"Now we have to score at least two goals on Wednesday, and that may be difficult considering the number of chances we missed today. We had no luck."
Magnificent
"It was great to get the goal but we owe this win to the defense," said McFadden, a surprise selection by coach Berti Vogts.
"They were magnificent. There's no reason why we can't go to Amsterdam for the second leg if we battle like we did today."
McFadden's well-worked goal came from a corner, with the 20-year-old exchanging passes with 19-year-old Darren Fletcher before getting a helpful deflection off Frank De Boer to beat van der Sar with his chipped effort.
That signalled the start of a heavy barrage of Dutch pressure, with Douglas tipping Stam's header over the bar and watching Andy van der Meyde's fierce shot fly off-target, but the Scots rode their luck.
In the second half, van der Meyde saw another effort bounce into Douglas' arms off the crossbar, and the Celtic keeper also stopped a close-range effort from Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, paired unsuccessfully with Barcelona's Patrick Kluivert up front.
"It was a great performance, and we played very well," said Vogts. "In the second half, the legs were a little tired, but we got organized."
