Classic Matches 1985- 1990

Scotland 0-0 Uruguay
Date Played – June 1986

Scotland met Uruguay in their final group match, believing that victory would almost certainly secure progression to the second round of the world cup. Amazingly, Uruguay were reduced down to 10 men just after a minute of the match being played, when Batista was ordered off the field after a bad tackle on Strachan, however Scotland failed to capitalise on the one man advantage. In what could have been a great day for Scotland they were unable to score, and rarely put Uruguay under any pressure. Uruguay’s two man attack seemed the much more likely to score, the score line remained 0-0 and Scotland were once again out of a world cup at the earliest stage.

Bulgaria 0-1 Scotland
Date Played – October 1987

Scotland travelled to Bulgaria with an under strengthened team hoping to pull out an unlikely draw against the Bulgarians, however Scotland were even surprised by their performance by the end of the match. The Bulgarians were the favourites in this Euro 88 qualifying group, and had not been beaten at home for a staggering four years. However they played into the Scottish hands by selecting a defensive line up and with only moments remaining in the match the tie was still goalless. Jim Leighton played a blinder in the Scottish goal and the game looked headed to a 0-0 draw. With three minutes remaining, Scotland’s two super substitutes Gordon Durie and Gary Mackay got into the action as Mackay put Durie’s pass into the Bulgarian net, which turned out to be a famous 1-0 victory for Scotland and started a long run of impressive results after a poor previous year.