Iversen at both ends puts Vogts in a hole

Scotland 0 Norway 1

Scotland face uphill battle to qualify after coach is sent off amid acrimony over goal-line clearance

The "war" promised by Norway never materialised but for Berti Vogts's battle to put Scotland into the World Cup, it is almost certainly auf wiedersehen. The beleaguered German's 30-month reign in charge of Scotland can go little further after they surrendered all hope of progress in this World Cup qualifying campaign.

Steffen Iversen's 55th-minute penalty decided this encounter at Hampden Park, with James McFadden dismissed for the handball that led to it. With five points dropped from their opening two games at home, the job is not so much a salvage one as an impossible one.

Vogts remained confident though. "My only target is the 2006 finals, and I do not expect to be sacked," he said, when asked if his job was on the line.

In a cruel twist of fate, Iversen had got Norway out of jail by hooking Richard Hughes's first-half shot off the line after it appeared to cross over it. Vogts was sent to the stands for his anger. Not for the first time, a linesman was being cursed in German.

Vogts may have been guilty of reverse psychology by claiming that his counterpart, Age Hareide, was under greater pressure to conjure a win than he was. The Norway coach had taken just one point out of six in this group but has only been in the job for six months in comparison to Vogts's two and a half years.

Certainly, there was little feeling of gloominess attached to the 6,000 modern-day Viking invaders. These days pillage was confined to the Glasgow shops - much cheaper than Oslo's - though many Norwegians cheekily sported sweatshirts declaring this "The Conquest of Scotland".

On the Hampden pitch, there was a swift exchange of scoring opportunities in the first few minutes, with McFadden curling a free-kick just wide and then John Carew inducing panic in the Scotland defence as his mazy run took him past Gary Holt and Gary Caldwell before clipping the ball back across the six-yard box for the combined efforts of Craig Gordon and Richard Hughes to hack away.

In such a high-tempo start, it was Norway who settled first to produce a confident passage of possession football. John Arne Riise added another element with his slingshot throw-in that found the head of Iversen, whose glancing header forced Gordon to save at the near post.

Scotland, though, were suffering from a lack of width. Holt's deployment in the holding role and Hughes's roving commission in the centre meant Darren Fletcher was often the only out-ball.

Hareide had introduced Magnus Huset and Tommy Larsen into his midfield after the disappointing draw with Belarus last month, and the pair's terrier approach created possession. The stalemate refused to be broken but Scotland would claim furiously that they were denied a goal from a controversial decision just after the half-hour. McFadden's corner was met by the boot of Paul Dickov, whose shot was beaten out by Thomas Myhre only for Hughes to stab the rebound goalwards.

Iversen, with both feet planted behind the line, cleared but Scotland maintained that the ball had crossed the line. Vogts persisted in ranting at the Belgian referee, Paul Allaerts, at half-time, so much so that a policeman had to usher him away.

Vogts's punishment was to be sent to the stand to watch the second half and he was only in his seat for eight minutes when that same goal-line threw up another piece of drama that this time was crystal clear to everyone.

Jan Sorensen's corner was missed by Gordon, allowing Claus Lundekvam to rise and steer a header towards the net. The only barrier was McFadden, who instinctively threw out his arm and stopped the ball with it. It was a clear penalty and McFadden was instantly shown a red card before Iversen rubbed salt into the Scots' wound by sending Gordon the wrong way with a composed spot-kick.

Scotland's spirit seemed to sag. With just 10 men, and their World Cup hopes already slipping away, Scotland had to gamble. Yet when Vogts brought on Kenny Miller, it was not to augment Dickov's tireless labour but to replace the Blackburn striker.

Indeed, it was another Blackburn man, Morten Pedersen, who almost killed the Scots off after dancing past Caldwell but the substitute scooped his shot over the bar.

Yet another Ewood Park resident, Barry Ferguson, summed up the feelings of his countrymen in the wake of defeat. "I think it was a must-win game for us," he said. "We just need to get our heads down and hopefully get three points in Moldova. I think it's going to be difficult, but we're not going to give up."