Cooper
penalty saves Scotland Wales v Scotland, 10-Sep-85
Mike Aitken
Wales 1 Hughes
Scotland 1 Cooper (pen)
The Scottish lion matched the Welsh dragon in what was a World Cup tie as dramatic as anyone could fever wish to see in Cardiff last night. A Davie Cooper penalty cancelled out Mark Hughes's first half strike for Wales and thus assured Scotland of one of the two qualifying places in Group VII.
The success, however, was marred by the death, immediately afterwards, of Scots manager Jock Stein.
It was a remarkable coincidence that the Scots should find World Cup success hingeing on a penalty just as it had done in Wales eight years ago. On this occasion, there was no controversy or doubt, however, about the validity of the award.
Cooper, who had come on as a replacement for Strachan, showed remarkable coolness in taking such a vital award and he deserved all the plaudits for his other work in a display that undoubtedly changed the course of this tie.
For Wales had dominated the opening exchanges and looked good to retain the lead until their defensive interests outweighed their attacking intent in the second half.
Wales made the mistake of settling for just the one goal and in these kind of encounters, that is the riskiest policy imaginable. The Scots made the Welsh pay for their mistake with a remarkable second-half fightback.
Until the later stages it had been is night when the Scots seemed destined not to get any reward for their undoubted endeavour. Stein's plans had been restricted to a certain extent by the use of Alan Rough as a second half substitute for Jim Leighton one which obviously limited the team's tactical options.
The Welsh, so sharp and ebullient in the first half, were forced back into blanket defence through a Scottish performance which had more perspiration than inspiration about it.
And yet having said that, this would have to go down as one of the most remarkable of Scottish fightbacks coming back from what had looked a daunting position to achieve the draw with Wales that made Mexico almost certain.
The setting for the match had been suitably gladitorial. On a, warm, balmy evening, the tartan army were in good heart, a chorus of "Sailing” greeting Rod Stewart's arrival in the stand and they could easily have filled more than half the ground. Scotland had decided to use Gough alongside McLeish as a marker to subdue Rush and Hughes with Miller sweeping behind. It took Hughes just two minutes to commit his first heavy foul on McLeish. The referee spotted it but did not discipline the player. There was no doubt that McLeish's retaliatory foul on Rush a minute later deserved the yellow card, but even this early the Dutch referee was inconsistent.
Hughes had committed a couple more needless fouls before showing the admirable side of his character sending the Welsh into vigorous song with the opening goal in 13 minutes.
The trouble stemmed on the left where Steve Nicol and Roy Aitken between them allowed Peter Nicholas to deliver a smart cross into the box. Hughes with admirable poise and sureness of touch, placed the ball away from Leighton to give Wales the lead.
Scotland were undeniably rattled by that early loss. It was the Welsh who moved forward convincingly and there might have been a second goal in the 19th minute when Hughes met a Jones cross from the right and connected with a header that edged just over the bar.
If the Scots had managed to sort themselves out defensively there was not enough of a threat going forward. Only Strachan was involved in the general midfield area and he used the ball reasonably constructively.
In fact, the Scots barely created a chance worth the name in the course of the first half. Southall didn't have a save of consequence to make as Scotland struggled to produce quality possession for Speedie and Sharp, who battled hard enough on the possession they received.
So infrequent were the opportunities for Scotland in front of goal that they would have like to make more of a free kick on the edge of the Welsh penalty area ten minutes before the interval. A foul had been given for a challenge on Sharp and Strachan tried to pick out the Everton man with a cross that drifted in front of the intended target.
There was relief when Leighton's inability to clear the ball from Scotland's goalmouth with two punched clearances eventually gave Hughes the chance to produce a scissors kick that sneaked a little wide of the target.
Aitken drove a commendable volley from at least 30 yards after Sharp had won the ball as Scotland strove to finish the half on a high note.
While it was true that Gough's header from Strachan's corner a few seconds before the interval was the most dangerous effort they had created in the first half, it was perhaps fortunate that Hughes had not been able to take advantage just a minute earlier of a Leighton blunder.
The Aberdeen goalkeeper seemed to take his eyes off the ball when an easy ball was turned into a situation fraught with difficulty as the goalkeeper let things slip and kicked the ball in Hughes's direction. Luckily, the problem was sorted out and Scotland went in a goal down and not truthfully in a position to complain about the scoreline.
There had been plenty of half-time speculation about what possible changes Jock Stein might make in the second half. However, few could have expected Alan Rough to replace Leighton in goal at the start of the second period. It was not immediately clear why Leighton hall been unable to reappear, but the presumption had to be the Aberdeen goalkeeper had taken a knock.
There was some indication when Aitken's probing pass to Nicol required a rash challenge from Thomas that Wales were not entirely comfortable on their lead. There was further proof of this when Rush got himself booked quite needlessly in the 55th minute for a late challenge on Strachan.
At this stage the Scot decided to make the move they felt was needed to retrieve the tie. There was surprise at first when, after there had been an indication that Nicol would go off, it was in fact Strachan who was substituted. Davie Cooper came on to play on the wing, Nicol moved up into midfield and the Scots settled for an orthodox 4-3-3.
It did not take the enterprising Cooper long to deliver Scotland's most skilful piece of play in the match so far. The Rangers winger took off on a typically scintillating run, beating three defenders from position on the left before firing in a low cross that was cleared under pressure by two Welsh defenders.
It was clear Cooper was going to give Jones problems and the Welsh defender almost immediately fouled the Scot.
It seemed as if Scotland's chance of an equaliser was slipping away when, with just nine minutes remaining, got the breakthrough they wanted.
A flowing move began with a Nicol cross nodded on by Sharp and found Speedle in the middle of the box. The little striker whipped the ball up and Welsh defender Phillips handled. Cooper was instructed to take the spot kick and while Southall read the direction of the kick correctly, the Rangers winger was nonetheless able to deliver a left-foot shot into the goalkeeper's left-hand corner of the net.
The equaliser made for a quite unbelievably dramatic finish with Scotland in a position to win the match a minute from time when Speedie was put through on his own but failed to score with only Southall to beat.