Scotland crashed out of the World Cup at Hampden this evening, going down 0-1 to Holland thanks to a late Eljero Elia goal.
It was a night of missed chances as far as the Scots were concerned - a thrilling match that could have gone either way, but in the final analysis the dream of an appearance at the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa has turned to dust not just because of tonight's defeat but through a whole series of unacceptable results and performances during the entire campaign.
Manager George Burley made five changes from Saturday with David Marshall, Steven Whittaker, Paul Hartley, Steven Naismith and Shaun Maloney replacing Craig Gordon, Callum Davidson, Graham Alexander, Steven Fletcher and James McFadden.
Four Ibrox men lined up for the home side - and all four were to prove to be outstanding performers against a side captained by former Ranger Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
The Dutch almost made a stunning start in three minutes when Dirk Kuyt saw his twenty-yard curler come back off a post following a Wesley Sneijder back-heel.
Five minutes later at the other end Scott Brown somehow sliced wide a dipping Alan Hutton cross.
The pace was fast and furious - and Holland were threatening with almost every attack, Sneijder testing David Marshall in 23 minutes with a 25-yard drive from a Kuyt lay-off that the goalkeeper turned over.
Four minutes later Arjen Robben was through on a Kuyt pass only for Marshall to prove equal to the task again, this time blocking the shot.
Scotland came agonisingly close on the half-hour mark when Kenny Miller's angled chip from a Scott Brown pass came back off the crossbar.
Two minutes later Steven Naismith had the ball in the net from a Steven Whittaker cross only for the goal to be disallowed courtesy of a linesman's flag - an erroneous decision, it has to be said.
The Dutch again came close in 36 minutes when Robin Van Persie volleyed over following Gregory van der Wiel's run.
Sixty seconds later at the other end the chance of the night occurred when Naismith's twenty-yard shot was turned onto the post by goalkeeper Michael Vorm - the loose ball being stabbed towards the net by the inrushing Miller only for Vorm to make a near-miraculous second save.
The half ended goalless - but it was the visitors who almost broke the deadlock on the hour when Kuyt's header from a Sneijder corner flashed over the bar.
Two minutes later it appeared certain that Robben would open the scoring when he was clean through on goal only for Marshall to block his effort.
Miller was again denied by Vorm in 69 minutes when his snap-shot was parried by the goalkeeper after Brown's chip had found the head of the Ranger who then played a one-two with Naismith before seeing the ball spin wide off the inexperienced Utrecht 'keeper.
Ten minutes later Marshall had to be alert when he held a 25-yard drive from substitute Rafael van der Vaart.
With Scotland committing everything in attack in search of the crucial goal, there was always the danger of losing one on the counter-attack - and so it proved in 81 minutes when substitute Eljero Elia took advantage of a slip by the outstanding David Weir to go through on goal, round Marshall and stroke the ball into the net.
The die was cast - and three minutes later Van der Vaart should have made it two when he shot over from a Elia cutback.
In the dying seconds Naismith's 25-yard shot was held by Vorm - and Scotland's campaign had ended in tears, even second place in the group being denied to them following Norway's 2-1 win over Macedonia tonight.
Afterwards a crestfallen George Burley reflected:
"This was a game we needed to win, but Holland demonstrated their quality. I felt we deserved to take something from the game, but we can take pride from our performance. We needed a break, and didn't get any - even being denied a perfectly good goal. The fans stayed with us right to the end. Our performances tonight and on Saturday were excellent. Our attitude and commitment was first-class. This was never going to be an easy group. We came close..."
Not close enough, George...
SCOTLAND Marshall (Cardiff City); Hutton (Tottenham Hotspur), Whittaker (Rangers); McManus (Celtic), Weir (Rangers), Brown (Celtic); D. Fletcher (Manchester United), Hartley (Bristol City) [Commons (Derby County) 66], Miller (Rangers), Naismith (Rangers), Maloney (Celtic) [O'Connor (Birmingham City) 81]
UNUSED SUBS N. Alexander (Rangers), G. Alexander (Burnley), Caldwell (Celtic), S. Fletcher (Burnley), Rae (Cardiff City)
HOLLAND Vorm (Utrecht); Van Der Wiel (Ajax), Ooijer (PSV Eindhoven); Mathijsen (Hamburg), Van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), De Zeeuw (Ajax); Van Persie (Arsenal) [Huntelaar (AC Milan) 83], De Jong (Manchester City), Kuyt (Liverpool), Sneijder (Inter Milan) [Van Der Vaart (Real Madrid) 76], Robben (Bayern Munich) [Elia (Hamburg) 72]
UNUSED SUBS Velthuizen (Vitesse Arnheim), Heitinga (Everton), Schaars (AZ Alkmaar), Braafheid (Bayern Munich)
REFEREE Claus Bo Larsen (Denmark)