CHRISTIAN Dailly has already accepted the inevitable and ruled himself out of the second-leg of Scotland’s Euro 2004 play-off against Holland, despite the fact the SFA have vowed to explore every avenue in a bid to have his yellow card rescinded.
The caution, meted out by Norwegian referee Tterje Hauge, when Dailly kicked the ball away as the Scots moved towards a memorable 1-0 victory at Hampden yesterday, automatically rules him out of the return match.
It was a heart-breaking outcome f
or the defender, who had been charged with the role of shackling the late bursts and build-up play of Barcelona striker Patrick Kluivert.
Earning his 50th cap, he said he had been given cause for hope at half-time when it emerged that there may be a chance the referee would show some remorse, but while Berti Vogts was addressing one group of reporters, saying they would appeal the booking, Dailly was coming to terms with the fact that it will prove fruitless.
"I’ve just been told the rules don’t allow for that. Someone at the SFA said they can’t rescind bookings. I’m obviously shattered. I still plan to go over but it’s horrible watching. I did it in the Faroes game last time so that’s me been suspended twice now and that’s the first time it’s ever happened to me in a qualifying campaign."
And he is upset that red-tape will prevent common sense from prevailing. "It’s a bit disappointing when big games are at stake like that and the referee makes a very poor decision. You’ve just got to live with it but it’s not right. Surely [the referee] can look at it and say, ‘I accept I probably did the wrong thing, so take it away’. It’s just a bit of common sense."
The West Ham defender is in little doubt Hauge would undo the damage if the option was open to him, making the situation all the more infuriating.
"I could see it in his face. He knew he’d made a mistake. I said to him, ‘ref, what was that for’? and he just looked at me and I said, ‘you’ve just got me suspended’, and I could see his face fall a bit and that’s why he didn’t book anyone for kicking the ball away after that.
"To be fair to refs, they get carried away by the crowd as well at times and if there a lot of players shouting then they just throw the card up but if that’s the case with these things, surely they can look back at it and say, ‘okay, I over-reacted a bit there, I appreciate that, so, okay, we’ll take that away’. That seems like common sense to me."
Having been involved in Scotland’s most recently-doomed European Championships qualifier, against England four years ago, Dailly says he was desperate to see this job through, especially as he still believes Scotland have a battle on their hands despite the goal advantage they take to Amsterdam with them.
"I’m really pleased to have been involved in that game and that performance from a Scotland side. I’m quite proud of that but I feel it’s still only half-time and it’s like I’m going to miss the second-half. I’m pretty disappointed about that because the work’s not finished yet.
"They can beat anyone, that team. They are top, top drawer and it felt like that playing in the game. They stroke it about and have great pace so we still have our work cut out over there, there’s no doubt about that. But today I’m just proud to have been part of the side that played today because the team played great. It was a great occasion for everyone."
But while the veteran of the squad looks back in anger, James McFadden, who claimed his goal had been the "highlight of my career", could prove the oasis in Scotland’s desert of non-qualifications. As well as giving Scotland a goal of a start to take with them to the Amsterdam Arena, the gallus youngster says he would love the opportunity to further stun a Dutch squad he classed as cocky.
"I think they’re an arrogant nation. Sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s bad but, obviously, [at Hampden] it proved to be a bad thing for them. I don’t think they will have learned anything yet, but if we qualify then they’ll learn a lesson.
"We just need to go and win the game again. We’ve not surprised ourselves but we’ve surprised them because they expected to win the game."
But a wounded animal can often turn nasty and McFadden knows Scotland will have to be on their guard. "I don’t think we’re favourites, because they’re going to be dangerous over there and they’re going to come back and they’re going to want to win. No-one likes getting beaten, but I think they dislike it a wee bit more than anybody else. But we scored over in Germany and there’s no reason why we can’t go over there and get another goal."
Regardless, he is one Scotland player who won’t be over-awed by the task at hand. His attitude: why should he be? "They weren’t fazed about playing us and, at the end of the day, it’s 11 v 11." And, having a dig at the reported disharmony in the Dutch camp, he added: "We knew if we worked hard enough for each other then we would get the reward.
"I think we are a good team. Throughout the qualifying campaign, we have proved that we can play well together and we always knew that there was the chance we could get the win and it turned out that way. We’ve got a great spirit and that’s carried us through."
That, and a gleeful moment when his shot ruffled the net. His second goal in seven internationals, the Everton striker has formed a lively partnership with Leicester City’s Paul Dickov, looking like a couple of annoying flies buzzing around Jaap Stam and Co, too evasive to be swatted. And that willingness to be positive proved the difference.
"I was going to let the ball run out and get another corner but then I thought I may as well take it and I passed inside to Darren [Fletcher] and I saw the boy slipping, so I ran in again and, lucky enough, I got a wee ricochet, but it went in the net.
"It’s always nice to score but for Scotland, and against one of the better nations in the world, it makes it that wee bit more special. But the main thing is we got the victory and that sets us up nicely for over there."
Dailly may not have any further part to play in getting Scotland to Portugal, but surely few would be surprised if McFadden emerged from the second episode of this mini-drama as the hero of the hour.
