Context

Scotland went into the match knowing that they needed a positive result to keep their qualification chances for EURO 2004 alive. Dissapointing away results in the Faroe Islands on either side of back-to-back victories over Iceland meant that Scotland had seven points from their opening four matches.

Despite being World Cup Finalists the previous year Germany’s form in EURO 2004 qualification was not as sparkling as one would expect, with a draw in Nuremburg against Lithuania and a less-than-convincing victory over the Faroe Islands in Hanover. Scotland and Germany were both on seven points going into the match, albeit with Berti Vogts side playing a game more.

The Match

The Germany side, which featured six players who played in the World Cup Final 12 months previously, were treated to a noisy reception at Hampden Park. The sell-out crowd generated an incredible atmosphere, but the game struggled to match up to the noise of the stadium. 

With their first real attack of the match, Germany took the lead through a Fredi Bobic header.  Some quick-thinking from Colin Cameron at a free-kick  tee’d up Kenny Miller, who equalised with a fine finish past Oliver Kahn.

The Impact

Paul Lambert was Man of the Match at Hampden Park on what proved to be his penultimate match in a Scotland jersey. His final game was the return fixture in Dortmund – where he played his club football in 1996-97 – in a 2-1 defeat for Scotland.

In the end, Germany qualified for EURO 2004 as Group 5 winners, but were eliminated from the tournament at the group stages.

Scotland finished second in Group 5, where they faced the Netherlands in the play-offs. A James McFadden goal gave Scotland a 1-0 advantage for the second leg in Amsterdam, but the Dutch hammered Berti Vogts’ side 6-0.

What they said

“To say Hampden went wild (when Kenny Miller scored) would be wrong. It went wilder." – Michael Walker (The Guardian)

"I think Scotland did exceptionally well. They applied pressure on our midfield and stopped Michael Ballack. That was one of the keys to success for them."  – Rudi Voller

"That was our best performance against a very strong German side. We gave them a really hard time and I think we gave something back to the supporters." – Berti Vogts
 
Teams
Scotland: Douglas, Ross (McNamara 75), Pressley, Webster, Naysmith, Devlin (Rae 60), Lambert, Cameron, Dailly, Crawford, Miller (Thompson 90)

Subs not used: G Alexander, N Alexander, Wilkie, Gray.

Germany: Kahn; Friedrich, Woerns, Ramelow, Tobias Rau (Freier 57), Schneider (Kehl 86), Jeremies, Ballack, Frings, Klose, Bobic.

Subs not used: Rost, Rehmer, Hinkel, Neuville, Kuranyi.
Referee: Domenico Messina (Italy)