Attendance 38,278
The home side set off at a terrific pace – Paul
Dickov’s fourth minute flick being turned over by
visiting goalkeeper Borut Mavric after Nigel Quashie’s
initial shot had been blocked.
Eight minutes later Jamie McFadden made his way to the
bye-line, apparently carrying the ball out of play,
yet when his cross found Darren Fletcher no whistle
had sounded, making the Old Trafford youngster’s weak
effort straight at Mavric all the more disappointing.
It was not one-way traffic by any means however –
Milenko Acimovic’s thirty-yard free kick being
deflected over in thirteen minutes.
Scotland continued to press in search of the opening
goal – Gary Naysmith shooting across goal from a
McFadden pass seven minutes later.
McFadden himself almost broke the deadlock on 29
minutes – his snapshot from 25 yards being inches wide
of the target.
Sixty seconds later – just to emphasise their
continuing threat – Ermin Siljak saw his angled drive
beaten out by Craig Gordon.
The main Scottish threat was appearing down the left,
and from a Naysmith cross in 37 minutes Fletcher’s
header drifted just over.
The half ended goalless, but there was a growing worry
amongst the healthy 38,278 crowd that the Scots could
not keep up the intense pace that they had
demonstrated for so much of the opening forty-five.
Indeed a bizarre incident in the 53rd minute almost
presented the Slovenians with the opening goal – a
mix-up between Gordon and Malky Mackay offering the
loose ball to Siljak whose effort from point-blank
range somehow struck the grounded Mackay on the head,
the ball rebounding into the goalkeeper’s arms.
The visitors were gradually coming more and more into
the game, Acimovic shooting over four minutes later
from a Nastja Ceh lay-off with the goal at his mercy.
Scotland at this stage were looking distinctly ragged
– and Scottish nerves were certainly not helped in 62
minutes when Ceh’s 25-yard shot from a Siljak pass was
fumbled by Gordon, the Hearts goalkeeper managing to
grab the ball just inches before it crossed the line.
Berti’s men weathered the storm however – and Quashie
brought the save of the night from Mavric when his
25-yard piledriver from a Ferguson pass was touched
over by the Slovenian goalkeeper in 74 minutes.
Scotland pressed to the end, but created precious few
clear-cut openings, and the final whistle brought
forth a crescendo of boos from the Mount Florida
audience who correctly recognised that this was a
serious setback on the road to the 2006 World Cup.
The under-pressure Vogts afterwards denied that this
result was a blow, citing Norway’s draw with Belarus
tonight as an example of the vagaries of fortune to be
expected when four teams are fighting for second
place.
“Slovenia were well-organised. It will be easier in
Slovenia, but I expect this group to go right to the
last game. I am confident we can qualify.”
SCOTLAND Gordon; Caldwell, Naysmith (Holt 58);
Webster, Mackay, Ferguson; Fletcher, McNamara, Dickov
(Crawford 78), Quashie, McFadden
UNUSED SUBS Marshall, Miller, Cameron, Pearson,
Anderson
SLOVENIA B. Mavric; Pokorn, M. Mavric, Knavs, Karic;
Ceh, Komac, Seslar, Dedic (Sukalo 78); Siljak (Lavric
63), Acimovic
UNUSED SUBS Handanovic, Tanjic, Cesar, Koren, Ilic
REFEREE Claus Bo Larsen (Denmark)