Scots go top as McFadden stuns French
James McFadden last night fired Scotland a massive step closer to Euro 2008 with an incredible winner against World Cup Finalists France. Roared on by the massed ranks of the Tartan Army, 15,000 strong inside the Parc des Princes, Alex McLeish's men secured arguably the greatest ever result by our national team. A single moment of McFadden brilliance turned the contest in Scotland's favour and set up an astonishing second consecutive win over Les Bleus.From fully 30 yards out, McFadden's fantastic 64th-minute left-foot strike flew past French goalkeeper Mickael Landreau to fire the Scots to the top of a nail-biting Group B. A disbelieving Tartan Army danced into the night after watching a disciplined performance from the whiteshirted visitors illuminate the City of Light.
Asked about his goal, McFadden said: 'We trained here last night and the balls were flying everywhere. It was either shoot or take the man on. 'To beat them at Hampden was an upset but to beat them here was just unbelievable. 'It felt like a home game. We had half the stadium. It shows you the belief the fans have. They were not here for a party — they thought we could win. 'We have a great chance of qualifying now. This was a game we weren't expecting to win but we got the three points. Nobody expected us to do anything. But, as I kept saying on Saturday, we've got so much belief in this team, and it's shown through again.
'France are up there as one of the best teams in the world and we've come here and we've more than held our own, and we've got a win. 'It was not pretty at times. We defended well, we were solid, we got a goal and won the game. 'We've got to believe we can win the rest of the games — why not?'
A jubilant McLeish rode the wave of euphoria that enveloped the stadium and commented: 'We can say it's the best result in modern times. We were not given a prayer. 'How many teams have come to Paris and beaten the French? We can now put ourselves on the list of teams who have done it.
As whether Scotland should now believe they can reach next summer's Finals in Austria and Switzerland, McLeish said: 'They've just proved to themselves they've got it. They should take the belief from that.' The only minor blip on a memorable night came with Italy's 2-1 win over Ukraine. Yet the Scots now stand top of a tight group with 21 points. Italy now move ahead of previous group leaders France on 20, with Raymond Domenech's men third on 19.