Goal hero hangs on to a piece of history

GARY CALDWELL could have taken his pick of France players to swap jerseys with at the final whistle after shutting out Thierry Henry and co in Scotland's stunning win at Hampden.

The former Hibs defender put in a man-of-the-match performance, topping a fine defensive display with the only goal of the game.

The result sent the Scots three points clear at the top of Group B and the former Hibee admits it was one of the highlights of his short career. But while team-mate Paul Hartley swapped shirts with Claude Makelele and Craig Gordon with opposite number Gregory Coupet, Caldwell was determined to keep a firm grip on his.

His last goal in a Scotland shirt came in the 4-1 friendly thrashing of Trinidad and Tobago - ironically at Easter Road - two years ago and he was determined to hang onto his jersey for a precious reminder of an unbelievable afternoon.

He said: "I kept my own shirt, that will be getting framed I think because it's obviously a really special souvenir for me. I got the man-of-the-match champagne as well and I don't think I will be opening that for a long time either.

"It was without doubt one of the best days I've had in my career and hopefully there's many more to come. It was great, I don't score many goals so to get one in a game as big as that was just un-believable.

"I can't really even remember the last time that I scored a goal, I got one in a friendly against Chelsea."

And Caldwell, who made his debut in the nightmare 5-0 defeat to France under Berti Vogts three years ago, was delighted to reap some revenge for that miserable night at the Stade de France, adding: "From 5-0 and the lowest low that I think is possible in your career, to the highest high of beating France 1-0 and scoring the only goal of the game, it was a huge turnaround, not just for me but for everyone involved with the side.

"It's great that the good times seem to be coming back around for us."

Caldwell was part of a five-man defence who had been well versed by manager Walter Smith on the fact that set-pieces could be one of the best forms of attacks for the Dark Blues and that turned out to be the case.

He ghosted in with 67 minutes gone to head Hartley's corner beyond France keeper Coupet and send the vast majority of supporters inside Hampden wild.

"It was without doubt one of the loudest roars to greet a goal at the national stadium - and against a side which hadn't lost a European Championship qualifier since 1987, was fully justified.

Caldwell added: "We knew that set-pieces were one of the main avenues for us to get goals from and the delivery was great, I had a chance in the first half that I didn't really manage to catch with my head but we knew that we would get more chances to sneak one.

"When it hit the back of the net the place went mad and I just ran!

"I don't really plan my celebrations, you don't when you are a defender, I think Kenny Miller does - as you can probably tell.

"All of my family were at the game, I saw [brother] Steven in the dressing room after the game and they were all really excited for me."

Scotland now find themselves in an unfamiliar position, having taken full points from their opening three matches in the qualifying campaign, however, past experience will ensure that no-one involved with the national side will allow themselves to get carried away.

Just a couple of years ago the Scots were on a high after beating Holland 1-0 at Hampden, only to go out and lose 6-0 in the Netherlands a few days later.

Caldwell is determined that won't happen again and with another crucial match against Ukraine just two days away, insisted there's no room for complacency.

"Obviously the win over Holland was up there with this one, but as the manager said to us in the dressing room at full time, we got stuffed 6-0 four days after that game so we have got to make sure that we keep our feet on the ground and remember that nothing's been achieved yet.

"That's football; you've got to produce to the same high level week in, week out and at international level it's Saturday and Wednesday.

"The game against Ukraine is another big test for us.

"We go over there with our normal game plan away from home - to be tight and not give much away and see how the game develops. It's worked so far, so here's hoping it works again on Wednesday. To win one of the games was always going to be better than drawing two - that's what we were aiming for and we've managed to achieve that. Now we just want to keep winning as many games as possible and picking up as many points as possible."

Former Hearts defender Davie Weir echoed those thoughts and insisted that the Scotland squad had been full of confidence going into the match against a side who had reached the World Cup final in the summer.

He said: "It was a great feeling and against one of the best teams in the world it was a massive achievement. It was nice to be involved in a result like that and everyone involved can be very proud.

"I think that we have always been confident, we've got a good team and a good spirit and that can go a long way.

"We coped with everything they threw at us in the closing stages, but we also had a wee bit of luck as well and that always helps.

"When the free-kick came back off the post in the first half you just think that maybe it is going to be your day. That was obviously a sign!"

Weir paid tribute to the impact boss Smith has made to the national side since taking over from Vogts but admitted that the win over France will mean nothing if they throw all of their hard work away against Ukraine.

"Walter has made all of the difference and you have to give him great credit, he's made all of the decisions that have turned the team around. He's been around the game for a long time and knows how it works. It's important that we don't get carried away.

"We've got to move on to the next game now and make the most it this result. If we can get the right outcome on Wednesday night that makes this win even bigger.

"We want to do well against every team, not just the bigger ones, and that has certainly been the case in this campaign so far and we've got to make sure that we keep it going.

"It's great to be sitting top of the group right now but we want to be there at the end of the campaign."

Taken from the Scotsman