Scotland defeated France!

September 13th, 2007 - Paris – The Park de Princes saw a shock 1-0 victory for Scotland over Euro 2008 group B rivals France yesterday night. Around 15,000 fans had made the trip from Scotland hoping to see a good performance, but nobody could have imagined to go back with a victory. France were without Thierry Henry who picked up a yellow card against Italy at the weekend and was therefore suspended, but they could count on formidable players such as Makelele, Viera, Trezeguet, Malouda and Ribery.And, as expected, the visitors had to wait and press a lot before getting their foot on the ball. For the first quarter of an hour, France were entirely dominant, then Scotland went on the offensive, forcing a corner of their own when Fletcher’s free-kick was deflected off Makelele. But almost immediately France were on the attack again, Malouda doing the hard work on the by-line but his powerful cross was too much for Ribery who shot over the bar. Just before the break France could have put themselves a goal up but their efforts did not find a route through the Scottish defence.After the re-start, the turning point of the match came at the 64th minute with a wonder-strike from James McFadden that ensured the victory for Scottish team; for the remaining 25 minutes Scotland produced a heroic defensive display to preserve their lead.Thanks to this truly historical result Scotland go top of group B with France dropping to third behind second-placed Italy after their victory against Ukraine, thanks to two goals scored by Antonio Di Natale.On the pitch for the Azzurri side there were two Diadora players: Barzagli and Ambrosini.Ucraine will be next Scotland’s UEFA EURO 2008 rivals on 13 October, on that match the Diadora sponsored team have the chance to achieve the first qualification from 1998. Yesterday was a great night fot other two Diadora teams: Kazakhistan draw 2-2 against Belgio while Cipro won 3-0 over SanMarino.