SCOTLAND V ITALY PART 2

Then it was almost game over for the Scots on the half hour when Antonio Di Natale struck past Gordon, but was flagged for offside.

In many pundits' eyes, the home side got a lucky break as it did not look like offside, but if you were a Scots fan - who cared! We were still in it.

However on the stroke of half time, the Italians got a major scare when David Weir got onto the end of a corner kick, sending the ball towards the far corner of the net, but was cleared from the goal line by Andrea Pirlo.

The lack of pressure on Bufon became noticeable at the start of the second half as the World number on donned a woolly hat to keep out the cold.

And after shaky start to the second period the Scots soon started to turn the screw on the Italian defence in 65 minutes with a terrific attacking run by Alan Hutton, who was brought down just outside the penalty box.

Then on the resulting free kick managed to find its way into the box when McUlloch's shot was blocked by Buffon with Ferguson following up from close range, sending the Hampden crowd into ecstasy.

The dream was back on!

As the matched progressed, backed by the Tartan Army, the Scots had the dream finish within their grasp and were starting to make the Italians look anything like the reigning world champions.

And they almost clinched it ten minutes from time when Kenny Miller cut the ball across, but James McFadden could not get a decent connection, sending the ball wide of the post.

The feeling was that possibly the best chance to clinch the game had come and gone.

A draw would be enough to send the visitors through the knock out stages; a draw would give the Scots an outside chance depending on the results. So not surprisingly, the Italians were intent in running down the clock.

However a moment of crass incompetence robbed the Scots of a deserved share of the points when Alan Hutton was shoulder charged to the ground by Giorgio Chiellini, but the blundering official flagged for a free kick to the Italians at the Scots bye line.

And to add insult to injury Andrea Pirlo swung the ball over and Christian Panucci headed home to clinch a heartbreaking victory and automatic qualification for the world champions.

It goes with out saying that Italy not featuring in the Euro Championship would have resulted in a major dent in the UEFA bank balance.

Somebody mention conspiracy theories - not me. I don't believe in them myself. I will leave that you decide.

It was the worst possible ending, to what had been a heroic campaign, but if you wanted any indication of how much the fans appreciated the players efforts, could only look at the tears filling up in many players eyes as they came back out to a still packed Hampden for a deserved lap of honour, taking in a rapturous round of applause for some grateful fans.

If you wonder if there will ever be a Great Britain football team, well there were over 51,000 reasons that puts that notion firmly to bed for good.