Dogged Vogts wins respect from both sides

When Hans-Hubert Vogts was at the peak of his football-playing powers he was so devastated by defeat in the 1977 European Cup final he couldn't stomach the post-match meal with his Borussia Mönchengladbach colleagues. He went off to join the Liverpool victory party instead. "I was really touched and impressed," Kevin Keegan said of the defensive terrier who had stuck to his heels in Rome's Stadio Olimpico that night. "It showed great character and sportsmanship."

Twenty-five years on, it seemed that Vogts would have nowhere to turn for solace, let alone respect, at Hampden Park yesterday. But that was before a ball had been kicked. Unloved by the country that hired him on Valentine's Day last year, and by the country for which he won a World Cup as a player and a European championship as a coach, Scotland's German coach was not quite in the no-win situation the Hampden hordes, and the circling vultures, had anticipated. The trailers on BBC Radio Scotland were accompanied by the sound of Hot Chocolate singing: "I Believe In Miracles". And, with a dogged performance by his team of strictly limited talents, Der Terrier, as Vogts was known in his days as a biting right-back, was left celebrating the miraculous moral victory of a draw. As the final whistle sounded, the sweetness of that qualified success came as a bitter pill not only to the Caledonians who had despaired at his negative record (three actual wins in his previous 14 matches), but also to the Germans who had travelled withschadenfreude in their hearts. "Berti raus," the visiting fans chanted when Miroslav Klose put their team ahead mid-way through the first-half. "Go away, Berti," was the sentiment.

But Berti was going nowhere. It was Rudi Völler who wore the frown of a worried man as the rival coaches disappeared down the tunnel together. Völler's team were as much insipid as Vogts' were inspired - and Scotland's coach appreciates the Himalayan standards that are expected in his homeland. He has never been forgiven for failing to take the nationalmannschaft beyond the quarter-finals in the World Cups of 1994 and 1998. Scotland could only dream of such failure, even in the days when they had the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness and Gordon Strachan in their ranks. In truth, today they have a set of players who would probably struggle to make the play-offs in the English First Division. As Kenny Dalglish put it last week: "I don't think Berti's blessed with the greatest number of quality players." David Taylor, chief executive of the Scottish Football Association, admitted the same yesterday. "Berti can only use what he has at his disposal," he said. "Of the 22 players involved for Rangers and Celtic in their title-deciding games only two were Scots."

Such is the dearth of quality at Vogts' disposal, he drove to a recent Everton game in an attempt to persuade Duncan Ferguson to return to the national fold, and was given short shrift. Yesterday he was without Barry Ferguson, Don Hutchison and James McFadden, yet his team of lightweights played with the kind of conviction and collective method that allowed Scotland to punch above their weight.

The tone was set by the high-tempo midfield scheming of Colin Cameron, who happens to have made it to the English Premiership via the play-offs. It was his quick free-kick, midway through the second-half, that prompted Kenny Miller's equaliser. Scotland were feisty throughout. Germany were facile. With the exception of the move which yielded Bobic's goal, the World Cup finalists of last summer were only world class in the diving and theatrical department.

"You could see in the opening 10 minutes that they were maybe thinking about the disappointing results we've had here," Vogts reflected afterwards. "But German teams have always had to come here and work hard for their results." It was Berti's Scottish boys who put in the graft yesterday - and their coach who reaped the reward of a reputation restored. It was Rudi Völler who was left looking like a gloom-laden gatecrasher at a party celebration.