Sitting on the sofa with a fair degree of optimism, i listened to 50 odd thousand singing their heart out trying to will their side to victory.

Within the first two minutes, scotland had managed to take a leaf out of the "berty McVolghts" book of managment and make their life an uphill battle. but let's give the boys credit, they did fight their way back into the match..

Watching a ball being crossed from the right hand side in the second half, i like many other scotland supporter held our breath for a second as i watched James McFadden ghost in at the back post and throw a foot at the ball.

Our joy turned to horror, as we watched the ball spin past the goal. but if anyone actually told me that the game would be decided in injury time with one of the most bizarre refereeing decisions in history. i would have told the scotland team to save their energy for the Champions League...

I can understand the offside decisions that happened earlier on in the match, whether ferguson was on or off is irrelevant, whether Italy should have had another goal is also debatable because we all know that whether we like it or not these mistakes happen far too often.

But can anybody in their right mind find any sort of justification or excuse that would save bungling Manuel's neck for costing Scotland a priceless 1-1 draw?

yes, i am a scot, and yes i say good luck to France and Italy, Italy had a horrendous start to the campaign and somehow they managed to claw their way back into the campaign, (i guess that's what world champions do). France even managed to go and face a team 50 places below them and lose twice yet still manage to qualify.

Scotland went to the Gorgia knowing that only a victory would put things right in their hands, then ended up giving away three points. Truth is the qualifications are about winning all the games and not just one, but for all those england fans out there, if England lost in the manner that scotland did would you honestly sit there and say that everyone has a bad decision now and then....

As a scotland fan, my one true hope is that in some dark corner of the Uefa buildings, the powers that be, will look at the decision given and hopefully smell a rat, they might not do anything to bungling manuel publicly, but what if France and Italy made it to the final? then manuel would have a decent shout at refereeing the final.

Hopefully someone somewhere will feel that his performance for both Scotland AND Italy is enough to warrent his exclusion from the final... if there is justice in the world then every scot will be more than happy to hear that Manuel and his bungling linesmen don't reach the final in 2008.

Oh and just to keep those people, who have conspiracy theories on their mind, happy, apparently Manuel and his linesmen dined in a restaurant owned by Rhino guttuso's father in law, two hours after the game. upon leaving the country it is reported that Manuels bags were searched, imagine the shock on the guys face when he opened the bag to find it stuffed full of Italy tops and scarfs for his family..."the scottish sun"

Did he make a genuine mistake or did he knowingly cheat? you decide? but before you do watch the lead up to the free kick then look for any reason to give a free kick against scotland. trust me when i say there is good reason why millions of scots are asking for manuel's head....

People are continuing to embarrass themselves in this thread.

Everyone agrees that Italy should have had another goal before Scotland equalised, everyone agrees that the Scotland equaliser shouldn't have counted (i haven't seen anyone say it WASN'T an offside, just a load of bollox about how the assistant supposedly couldn't have seen the offside -- lol) and everyone agrees that the foul that led to Italy's winner should have been given the other way.

Now, do the math and you tell me which team has a right to complain? Or if the ref was bribed by the Italians, as the post above mine seems to suggest? Andrewglover is a Scot and he seems to accept the reality just fine (Zambrotta handball aside)!

Ridiculous. I really hope the same people see things more clearly in a few days and come here to admit that they were wrong.

with all due respect this is by far the most far-fetched and pathetic piece of writing i have seen for a very long time.

you are calling the referees integrity into question and suggesting he took a bribe!?

i will simply laugh at that and not even bother typing out the blindingly obvious as to why that comment is so stupid.

you will work it out for yourself when you take your tartan specs off

we usually say "rosica" :lol

BREAKING NEWS : Spanish referee corrupted by a whole meal of Pizza

It's been proven that Di Natale goal was offside ! That Scottish goal wasn't offside and that Scotland deserved to win 5-0.
Toni goal should have been disallowed too, he scored too fast and Uefa rules clearly say it's not aloud.

Then the last free kick was what we all call a corrupted decision. Referee already knew that Panucci would have scored that goal, nothing could have avoided it, not even the Scottish defense.

McLeish said that the Referee after burping smelled like Pizza, a true prove that the match was already decided.

You know, I just bothered to take a look at the alleged foul at the end of the match, and I have contrasting thoughts. Maybe, just maybe, the ref's decision was plausible.

Allow me to explain: The Scottish player had, more or less, lost possession of the ball (if they hadn't fallen, I can image the Italian gaining possession because he has territorial advantage considering the ball's direction). There was contact between the two players, and the player who was damaged was the Italian because he had advantage over the ball.

What I mean is, it was shoulder against shoulder, both players fall, but if you look carefully the Italian actually had the ball(or at least was about to gain possession). Therefore it's like the contact damaged the Italian. If you consider this from another angle (the ref's), you can imagine him seeing the Scot keeping the ball in, but losing possession as a consequence, and knocking the Italian down.

Still, as someone said in other posts, the ref only gave a free kick - it was not a penalty.

If he had pizza before or after the match, good on him. Pizza is a well-balanced meal. It's good for you!!!