Craig Brown led Scotland to two major tournaments and was involved in another three but it was only later that his services were truly appreciated.
The former schoolteacher succeeded where bigger names would go on to fail by taking Scotland to both the World Cup and European Championship.
Brown also led Scotland to an Under-16 World Cup final and a European Under-21 semi-final.
With his Scotland side built on a solid 3-5-2 formation, Brown’s critics often called for more flamboyance but his approach proved even shrewder with hindsight.
Brown was born in Glasgow in July 1940 and, with his father in the RAF, spent his early years living along with his mother at his grandfather’s house in the city’s Corkerhill area, where air raids were common.
Real Madrid must accept any criticism that comes their way after their Champions League defeat to Lille, so says Carlo Ancelotti.
Jonathan David s penalty in first-half stoppage time proved decisive as the Ligue 1 side triumphed 1-0 at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
Madrid defeated Stuttgart in their opening match, but despite having six shots on target and mustering 2.09 expected goals (xG) to Lille s 1.29, Los Blancos were far from deserving a positive result in Ancelotti s eyes.
Everything was pretty bad. We did badly with the ball, although the team was quite compact in the first half, it was difficult for us to recover the ball, it was difficult for us to make transitions, Ancelotti told reporters, having seen his side suffer their first defeat in the Champions Leagu…
Andriy Shevchenko believes Ukraine have what it takes to reach the final of Euro 2012, providing they play to their potential.
While the former Chelsea and AC Milan ace acknowledges the path to the Olympic Stadium in Kiev will be challenging, he believes getting there is possible.
If we show our quality and have a bit of luck, we can reach the final, Shevchenko told reporters.
I understand that will be extremely difficult but you only get one chance to make history.
Shevchenko has been an excellent servant for Ukraine, scoring 46 goals in 107 appearances, but was widely expected to call time on his international career prior to the tournament.
However, he revealed seeing his country host a European Championship convinced him to prolong his dut…
Market: Lazio draw no bet
Odds: 7/10 @
Looking to make it back-to-back Serie A victories on Saturday evening, Lazio will travel to the Bluenergy Stadium when they meet Udinese.
Starting with the hosts, spending large spells of last season looking over their shoulder at a looming relegation scrap, Udinese could be set for another struggle this time around. While the Little Zebras might have opened proceedings with a 1-1 stalemate away at Bologna last weekend, Kosta Runjaic’s men will be bracing themselves for a stern challenge when they return to the Bluenergy Stadium on Saturday evening. Hit with a 2-1 defeat when they last welcomed Lazio to town back on January 7th, Udinese gained an unwanted reputation for their issues on home soil last season. In fact, the …
An Italian bookmaker is offering odds of 50-1 for rising Roma star Cengiz Under to win the Ballon d Or in the next five years.
Sisal Matchpoint has launched the special in the wake of the 20-year-old s spectacular performances since the turn of the year.
The odds are the same for Harry Kane, Gonzalo Higuain, Luis Suarez, Mohamed Salah, Philippe Coutinho or David Silva to win the 2018 prize.
Under has been Roma s standout performer in recent weeks and scored his first Champions League goal on debut in the competition during Wednesday s 2-1 loss to Shakhtar Donetsk.
A bit-part player in the first half of the season, the Turkey international has four goals and one assist from his last three outings in Serie A.
Under, who joined from Istanbul Basakseh…
The 2015 Cheltenham Festival, one of the biggest horse racing events, is just around the corner, with the highly-anticipated event taking place at Cheltenham Racecourse across four days between 10th March and 13th March.
The time has come for punters to study the horses form and start placing their wagers on their favourite selections. 888sport has got a number of exciting markets within the Cheltenham 2015 Specials section and seeing as how they also reward new customers with £88 in free bets, this could be the perfect time to join.
All you have to do is and place several wagers of £10 or more, and you will be awarded with up to £88 on free cash that will certainly come in handy ahead of the latest edition of the Cheltenham festival.
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Once the dominant force in Europe, Spain reclaimed their place among the elite of international football on Tuesday.
La Roja reached their first major tournament final since Euro 2012 following a 2-1 victory over France in Munich.
After several dull knockout games meandered their way to extra time and penalties, a frenetic 25 minutes had eyes across the world glued to their screens for this one.
With Spain the first team to book their place in Sunday s final, we take a deep dive into the best Opta statistics from a memorable encounter.
Spain 2-1 France: Roja baton passed down to Yamal
In a battle between the tournament s most potent strike force and best defence, it would be La Roja s crop of attacking talent that emerged victorious.
At…
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti issued a warning about Karim Benzema being ever better in 2023 after the Ballon d Or winner s double in Friday s 2-0 victory at Real Valladolid.
Benzema missed the 2022 World Cup as France finished runners-up due to a quad injury sustained on the eve of the tournament. He has since announced his international retirement.
The 35-year-old forward brushed off that disappointment in Madrid s first game since LaLiga s resumption, netting an 83rd-minute penalty before doubling his tally six minutes later.
I see Benzema very motivated, and I think you will see a different Benzema from now on in 2023, Ancelotti told DAZN.
In the 2022 calendar year, Benzema has been involved in more goals in all competitions than any other L…
Mike Dean became the referee to award the most penalties since the start of the 2015-16 campaign after pointing to the spot twice in Manchester City s 4-1 Premier League win over Stoke City on Saturday.
The 48-year-old awarded his first spot-kick of the afternoon when Ryan Shawcross was adjudged to have fouled Nicolas Otamendi at a corner in the 26th minute, with Sergio Aguero coolly firing home from 12 yards to open the scoring.
Dean once more awarded a penalty early in the second half, this time to Stoke after deeming Raheem Sterling had blocked Shawcross run at another set piece, allowing Bojan Krkic to pull one back for the home side.
The Wirral official has now given 16 penalties since the start of last season, two more than any other referee, with …
The referee for Barcelona s Champions League semi-final second leg against Chelsea in 2009 was forced to change his hotel in the wake of the controversial clash at Stamford Bridge.
Tom Henning Ovrebo was at the centre of a firestorm during the clash nine years ago, in which Barca snatched a dramatic 1-1 draw to secure passage to the final on away goals.
Eric Abidal was controversially sent off, but it was Chelsea who were most angered by the officiating, as they saw six appeals for a penalty waved away by Ovrebo.
The last one came in second-half injury time, after Andres Iniesta s stunning strike cancelled out Michael Essien s opener, with Samuel Eto o escaping a handball shout that prompted Michael Ballack to chase Ovrebo down the pitch and argue his case.
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