\t![\"Colin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot_2026-06-15_172338_po6q5b.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\tIf you want some more US Open content, please read the following articles, but please indulge me as we embark on an unexpected change of direction.<\/p>\n
\tNow I know that I am primarily here to write about golf but I want to share with you what it feels like to be a Scottish football fan.<\/p>\n
\tThe World Cup has kicked off. Sixty years of hurt? It\u2019s coming home? Give me strength! Just try being a Scottish football fan.<\/p>\n
\tYou have Harry Kane. We have Lyndon Dykes! You have Jordan Pickford. We have 43-year-old Craig Gordon! We have Grant Hanley. You have Marc Guehi. We have Kenny McLean and you have Jude Bellingham!<\/p>\n
\tI hardly know where to start but let\u2019s kick off with the 1978 World Cup, shall we?<\/p>\n
\tI was at Anfield for the qualifier against Wales when the referee was the only person in the ground who didn\u2019t see Joe Jordan score with his hand. No matter – we had made it.<\/p>\n
\tOur manager was Ally McLeod, who convinced the nation that we had a team that was good enough to win the World Cup. Around 30,000 of us swallowed it, to the extent that we turned up at Hampden Park to give our boys a rousing send-off as they headed to Argentina. To be fair, our squad included the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, Bruce Rioch and Martin Buchan. What we would do for players of that calibre now. Every top English team contained at least one Scot.<\/p>\n
\tWe were facing Peru, Iran and the Netherlands in the group stages. What could possibly go wrong? Plenty, as it turned out.<\/p>\n
\tOur optimism was short-lived. Willie Johnston was sent home in disgrace after failing a drugs test.<\/p>\n
\tI vividly recall our opening encounter against Peru. They were meant to be cannon fodder. Nobody told Teofilo Cubillas. I threw my slipper at the TV as Peru scored their third goal.<\/p>\n
\tBut Iran were up next and a comfortable victory would still give us hope. Comfortable victory? We drew 1-1. Against Iran! Thus proving there are no easy games at this level!<\/p>\n
\tAnd so it all came down to our final game against the Netherlands. We had to beat one of the best teams on the planet by three clear goals. Some chance!<\/p>\n
\tUnbelievably, we somehow found ourselves leading 2-1. And then Archie Gemmill danced his way through the Dutch defence to score one of the best World Cup goals of all time. I remember Bobby Charlton going bananas in the commentary box. But the dream was alive. Or at least it was until the Dutch went up to the other end two minutes later and scored to make it 3-2. We were heading home with our tails between our legs. My abiding memory of that miserable campaign is of McLeod with his head in his hands – like the rest of the nation.<\/p>\n
\tFour years earlier we were unbeaten and still failed to reach the knockout stages! Ahead of the tournament, manager Willie Ormond allowed the players go for a night out in the coastal town of Largs and, in the early hours, winger Jimmy Johnstone decided to commandeer a rowing boat. Only problem was, he had no oars and began to drift out to sea. David Hay and Eric Schaedler tried to rescue him, but the boat they purloined had a hole in it so they frantically rowed back to the shore. Johnstone had to be rescued by the coastguard, becoming front page news in the process. Perfect preparation!<\/p>\n
\tWe started our campaign by thrashing the mighty Zaire 2-0. And then came Brazil. Unbelievably, we held them to a goalless draw.<\/p>\n
\tVictory in the final game against Yugoslavia would take Scotland through. Even a draw would have been good enough if Brazil failed to beat Zaire by three clear goals. But they did, winning 3-0.<\/p>\n
\tThe Scots fell a goal behind with 10 minutes left, with Jordan’s late equaliser not enough. Yugoslavia, Brazil and Scotland finished level on points, with the team who scored fewest against Zaire eliminated. And that, of course, was Scotland.<\/p>\n
\tAnd then there was 1982. Finally we had a proper manager in Jock Stein. John Wark said: “It must be the best squad we’ve ever taken to a finals – and the best manager.<\/p>\n
\t“We had players who’d won everything in the game, they needed someone who commanded their respect and big Jock did it just by walking into the room. To this day I believe that was our chance.”<\/p>\n
\tWe kicked off against New Zealand, a proper potential banana skin, and cruised past them 5-2.<\/p>\n
\tNext up were those pesky Brazilians again. OMG, David Narey only went and put us ahead with a screamer. But that only served to annoy them and they thumped us 4-1, with Eder scoring a wonder goal. So yet again it all came down to the final game, this time against the Soviet Union. We drew 2-2 and crashed out on goal difference. AGAIN!<\/p>\n
\tSo failing to qualify maybe isn\u2019t so bad because at least we don\u2019t build up our hopes. And there are definitely no expectations this time. Oh, and guess what? We have to play Brazil again!<\/p>\n
\tIt all kicked off with Haiti. We beat them 1-0 with a deflected goal and it was like we had won the World Cup. I sat through the game. It was torture. Haiti are the 84th- ranked team in the world. We now have to face Morocco, semi-finalists in Qatar, and Brazil – yes, THAT Brazil.<\/p>\n
Derek Clements<\/a> is a seasoned sports journalist and regular Golfshake contributor, specialising in tour coverage, opinion pieces, and feature writing. With a long career in national newspapers and golf media, he has reported on the game across Europe, the United States and Australia. A passionate golfer, he has played and reviewed numerous renowned courses, with personal favourites including Pebble Beach, Kingsbarns, Aldeburgh, Old Thorns and the K Club. His love of the game informs his thoughtful commentary on both professional golf and the wider golfing community.<\/p>\n Be part of the action with a selection of unique golf tournament experiences, from playing in a pro-am with the stars to watching the action at golf\u2019s most illustrious events. Whether it\u2019s the Masters or The Open, The Ryder Cup or WM Phoenix Open, build your own bespoke package with the experts at Golfbreaks.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I am unashamedly Scottish. It means that with a few notable exceptions when it comes to golf in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":738667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-738666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=738666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/738667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=738666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=738666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=738666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}