McCann: 'It was good to get a wee bit of pride back'

Neil McCann, the former Scotland winger, admits beating England at Wembley was one of the highlights of his career, even though it ended in heartache.

The former Rangers and Hearts player outshone the likes of David Beckham and Paul Scholes to collect the man-of-the-match award when Craig Brown's team stunned the English with a 1-0 win in London 14 years ago. It was a bittersweet moment for the Scots, though, unable to repair the damage caused by a Scholes brace from the first leg of the Euro 2000 play-off.

McCann, who supplied the cross for Don Hutchison to head home the only goal, said: "It was definitely one of my highlights; playing for Scotland is something you dream of as a wee boy. It was great walking out because, with the old Wembley, you walked out behind the goals, it was a long walk. The Scotland fans were in the corner as we walked out so we could see all them all up there. As we lined up for the national anthem, it was getting hammered, booed. The Scottish fans were doing well to try and drown it out.

"I've still got the two jerseys; I managed to get Phil Neville's that night so I have some nice memories from the match. They had a good team, they had Beckham, Owen and Alan Shearer. It was some occasion. We flew back to Glasgow and although there was the disappointment of not making the championships, it was a nice feeling just to get a wee bit of pride back."

Taken from the Herald