A magical night at chilly Hampden Park

One of the attractions of football is that extraordinary things can happen at a most surprising time.

- By Nobby Piles

That was the case at a chilly Hampden Park on Tuesday night when Scotland succeeded in qualifying for their first World Cup finals in 28 years.

It was a classic nail-biter. Scotland had to beat Denmark to automatically qualify and with the score 2-2 after 90 minutes that looked most unlikely, although the Danes were reduced to 10-men. The playoffs beckoned.

Then in added time came two remarkable moments which sent the 50,000 spectators at Hampden into unashamed ecstasy. It was Kieran Tierney who shot the all-important third goal with a tremendous 22-yard effort from just outside the penalty area.

Then came the crazy goal when Kenny McLean spotted Kasper Schmeichel was well off his line and the Scot let fly with a shot from just inside his own half to float over the Danish goalkeeper.