Football - Beating the Azuri at their own game

OK first thing to say is that I don't intend to talk about football on my blog - well not very much anyway.
However when the Englsih broadsheets have pictures of our star striker on their front page then you know that something interesting is happening. When was the last time that England took us seriously? Probably the last time that England weren't going to make it to a major finals and we were - come on Israel.
So here is my take on the goings on about it all. Although our expectations are high it won't matter if we don't beat the azuri, I right. We will be gutted. Will it rank as our biggest glorious failure? Not much of a concelation prize that.
Lets take a quick overview of Italian football. Steeped in a culture of win at all costs and intense pressure surrounding every game, football is taken mighty seriously in Italy. Corruption has been rife for years and hooliganism rules the roost. Hampden will not in be intimidating for their players so forget about the tartan army being the 12th man. This is a side who can grind out results - we're not the only team that can beat France - when its required.
Can Scotland pull it off? There does seem to be a change in the Scottish psyche lately, there has always been a stoic pride, there is a quiet and dare I say it dignified confidence (we have learned a lttle from the Argentina fiasco) that underpins our collective attitude these days. That gives me hope but we are still in for a scrap to send the Italians home to think again. If we win it will be a far far more impressive achievement than beating France home and away.
So in perspective and summary my head says one thing, but Scotland plays with their heart on their sleeves which might be enough to do it. Probably not but we've had the best time of our lives just getting to this point. I can't wait for tonight.