McLeish feels pain of defeat

Scotland manager Alex McLeish said he and his players were "really hurting" after their hopes of reaching UEFA EURO 2008™ ended with a dramatic 2-1 defeat against Italy at Hampden Park, a result that sent the Azzurri and France through to next summer's final tournament.

Panucci winner
Scotland fell behind in the second minute to Luca Toni's prodded goal but equalised midway through the second half through captain Barry Ferguson. James McFadden almost grabbed a late goal when he slid to meet substitute Kenny Miller's cross, but it went just wide. Christian Panucci then turned in Andrea Pirlo's free-kick in the final minute to deny the home side the chance of reaching a major tournament for the first time since the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

'So close'
"We're really hurting," McLeish said. "We were so close, if Faddy's chance goes in then Italy are probably out of the tournament. We had the Italians on the ropes late on in the second half with Faddy's shot, Kenny's square ball and my life flashed before me and I thought, 'It's the winner'. I can't blame anybody. They've been brilliant for us, the whole bunch of players."

'Great chance'
Everton striker McFadden thought Scotland would at least draw after pulling themselves level in the second half. "They crumbled and it was up to us to kick on and I thought we did," McFadden said. "I had a great chance and it could have been different if I put that away. I'm bitterly disappointed. We think we deserve to be at a major championships."