SCOTS DIM GERMAN LIGHTS by Glenn Gibbons

AN OLD joke as well as Scotland's buried reputation was resurrected at the end of their first victory in Germany in 42 years: should Craig Brown's makeshift heroes now be officially recognised as champions of Europe?

Even before, and certainly after Everton's Don Hutchison had scored the 65th-minute winner that was all the sweeter for its unexpectedness, the local fans regarded their own team as a laughing stock and were persuaded to applaud and yell encouragement for the Scots as they left the hosts dishevelled and dispirited.

Whatever else Brown may have found out about players who were, by and large, only on the premises because of the unavailability of others, he would be deeply gratified by their refusal to be overwhelmed by opponents who triumphed at Euro 96 and who have been at No2 in the world rankings for two decades.

Given this pre-occupation with ensuring that the home side did not establish a telling advantage, they were rarely likely to bother Jens Lehmann in the German goal, though they did win a semblance of a chance as early as the first minute.

The foul by Thomas Strunz on Allan Johnston brought a free kick 25 yards from goal and Hutchison's powerful, low drive just nicked the end of the wall and was deflected wide. The Germans, throughout the first half, were themselves limited to similarly half-promising chances until Oliver Neuville made an untracked run through the inside-right channel and found himself with the ball at his feet and an unobstructed look at the visitors' goal.

Neil Sullivan proved himself capable by quickly filling the space between Neuville and the net and blocking the shot. It was the goalkeeper's first genuine piece of forced work, having earlier taken comfortably a feeble overhead kick from Oliver Bierhoff.

Brown chose zonal, rather than man-to-man marking, though David Weir seemed to be exempted from the general plan as he stayed close to the dangerously quick Horst Heldt on the left and Johnston was employed as an auxiliary to Callum Davidson in the business of metaphorically putting leg irons on Neuville on the other wing.

The result was that Paul Lambert was able to concentrate on patrolling a particular area, denying space to Strunz, Dieter Hamann, Jens Jeremies and any other German in the vicinity. With Tom Boyd and Colin Hendry picking up the loose balls in behind, there was throughout that first half a parsimony about the Scotland defence that most of us had feared had been permanently lost.

Lambert demonstrated his command of his area when Lothar Matthaus suddenly released Strunz through the middle and, as the wingers scurried wide and took Scots defenders with them, the route to goal suddenly looked as wide as a motorway. Lambert had seen the move taking shape, however, and was there in time to make certain that the drive from Strunz would travel no more than five yards before hitting the Celtic midfielder.

On one of their own sporadic skirmishes further forward, Weir found Billy Dodds, who played the ball to Scot Gemmill in space, but the Everton man's attempted curling shot with his left foot from a convertible position was well wide.

Looking unexpectedly comfortable, the Scots were troubled before the interval only by the shouts of the home support, seeking a penalty when Neuville moved to accept a pass from Hamann and collapsed under the challenge from Davidson. But the Swiss referee, who had shown his competence in the Juventus v Manchester United epic last week, would have nothing to do with the shout.

The loss of the floodlights during the interval seemed to leave the Germans temporarily feeling their way in the dark, as the Scots looked by far the more dangerous even before Hutchison gave them the lead.

Brown must have been achingly tempted to leave his team untouched, but promises had been made and, when Eoin Jess appeared on the touchline after 58 minutes, it was assumed that he would replace the tall Everton man as Dodds's partner in the front line.

Instead, Gemmill was removed, leaving Hutchison on board to inflict the damage. Lambert began the fluent move when he fed Davidson on the left, the full-back pushing into the box before pulling the pass back to Hutchison. From about 14 yards, he sidefooted the ball with his right past Lehmann.

That was handsome reward for a Scotland team who had already contrived a fine opportunity for Dodds - Hendry heading Durrant's corner kick down to his feet - who hurried his drop volley over the bar from 12 yards.

Dodds himself had appeared to give Johnston an unmissable opportunity when he flicked the ball into his path, but Lehmann bolted from his line to push the ball away from the Sunderland forward, with the rest of the German defence absent.

The teams having agreed to be allowed to use all seven substitutes, Brown continued on his voyage of discovery by replacing Hendry with Hearts' Paul Ritchie in the 66th minute, giving the Tynecastle defender his first international cap.

He did the same service for Aberdeen's Robbie Winters six minutes later when he brought the striker on for Durrant, who had earlier been booked for a lunge at Neuville.

The changes did little to diminish the efforts of a Scotland team who exceeded all expectations on a night that must have made the money spent by their followers more worthwhile than they areaccustomed to.

Germany: Lehmann (B. Dortmund); Novotny (B. Leverkusen), Matthaus (B. Munich), Worns (PSG); Strunz (B. Munich), Jeremies (B. Munich), Hamann (Newcastle), Heinrich (Fiorentina); Neuville (Hansa Rostock), Bierhoff (Milan), Heldt (Munich 1860). Substitutes - Butt, Kirsten, Preetz, Rehmer, Ballack, Jancker, Ramelow.

Scotland: Sullivan (Wimbledon); Weir (Everton), Boyd (Celtic), Hendry (Rangers), Davidson (Blackburn); Durrant (Kilmarnock), Lambert (Celtic), Gemmill (Everton), Johnston (Sunderland); Dodds (Dundee Utd), Hutchison (Everton). Substitutes - Main (St Johnstone), Whyte (Aberdeen), Ritchie (Hearts), O'Neil (Wolfsburg), Jess (Aberdeen), Cameron (Hearts), Winters (Aberdeen).

Referee: U. Meier (Switzerland).