Archie Gemmill's Tartan Army won't surrender

By John F. Molinaro, CBCSports.ca

One thing instantly springs to mind when you mention the name Archie Gemmill to the average soccer fan — that famous goal he scored for Scotland against the Netherlands.

It was at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina that Gemmill, then a star midfielder with Brian Clough's legendary Nottingham Forest team in England, slalomed through the entire Dutch defence to score one of the greatest goals in the tournament's history.

More on that later.

Today, Gemmill is focused on his duties as manager of Scotland at the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Archie Gemmill scores that famous goal against the Netherlands at the 1978 World Cup. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Scotland stumbled to a disappointing 3-1 loss to Japan last weekend in its opening game of the tournament, and the pressure is now on the young Scots to at least earn a point in their next game against Nigeria on Wednesday in order to keep their hopes of advancing to the next round alive.

Gemmill wants to assure long-suffering Scottish fans, who have grown accustomed to decades of underachievement by Scotland's senior side, that his team's poor performance against Japan on Canada Day is not indicative of the effort his boys will put in against Nigeria.

"We'll play a lot better [against Nigeria] than what we did against Japan, I can assure you," the former Scottish international told CBCSports.ca.

Added Gemmill: "The boys have got the disappointment out of their system and are looking forward to the match."

After Nigeria, Scotland plays Costa Rica on July 7 in a game that could decide whether the Scots move on or return home.

"We got off to a poor start, but hopefully we can salvage something from the other two games that we've got," Gemmill said.

How does Gemmill account for Scotland's admittedly poor outing against the Japanese?

"I think it was a little bit of nerves because it was our first match. As a team, and as individuals, we never played anywhere close to our potential," explained Gemmill.

Back in March at the official draw of the U-20 tournament when Scotland was selected to play in Group F in Burnaby and Victoria, many believed the Scots would enjoy an advantage because of the large population of Scottish expatriates in British Columbia.

It hasn't turned out to be much of an edge thus far.

"The support has been excellent, so we can't have any complaints about that, but we never gave the fans much to cheer about because our performance was way below the standards that we set for ourselves," Gemmill said.

That Scotland even earned a spot in the U-20 World Cup is an amazing story.

The Scots stunned the European soccer community when it brushed aside Turkey and the Czech Republic before losing to Spain in the finals of last year's UEFA U-19 Championship in Poland, qualifying for this summer's U-20 World Cup in the process.

That performance significantly raised the expectations of folks back home ahead of this summer's tournament. While Gemmill is pleased Scottish fans have plenty of hope, he also cautions them to remain realistic.

"When we went to Poland, I don't think anybody in Scotland even remotely thought we could get to the final," Gemmill said.

"But now the expectation [of Scottish fans] is that if we can go and get to the final of the World Cup we can win it, but they've got to realize that we're stepping up another grade because it's very difficult teams we're playing against here in Canada."

Bring on the magic

Now the young Scottish team could use a moment of magic from one of their players to inspire them to victory over Nigeria — the kind of magic Gemmill wielded against the Netherlands 29 years ago.

Gemmill's goal for Scotland against the Dutch was a picture of pure grace and ballet, easily one of the greatest in World Cup history.

With his team leading 2-1 in the 68th minute, Gemmill picked up the ball just outside the penalty area and effortlessly danced his way past three Dutch defenders, leaving them awestruck in his wake, before sublimely chipping the ball over onrushing goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed and into the net.

The goal became such a hallmark of Scottish culture that author Irvine Welsh worked it into his 1993 debut novel Trainspotting (made into a movie three years later starring Ewan McGregor).

Mark Renton, the book's protagonist, meets young Diane in a bar and the two wind up back at her place for a night of passion. After reaching climax with Diane, Mark screams out, "I haven't felt that good since Archie Gemmill scored against Holland in 1978!"

Hardly a day passes without someone asking Gemmill about that goal.

"It speaks volumes for the goal itself, but there was a lot more to my career than just scoring that one goal," Gemmill pointed out.

Indeed, Gemmill was a standout at Scottish club St. Mirren before he moved to England in 1967 and enjoyed successful stints with Preston North End, Derby Country, Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City.

He was also a regular for the Scottish national team in the 1970s, earning over 40 caps and scoring eight goals — none more famous than the one against the Netherlands.

So, how exactly did Gemmill manage to dribble his way around the Dutch defence to score that memorable goal?

"Well, it was something that only happens once in a lifetime. It was a case of me being very fortunate and very lucky at the time," Gemmill said with great modesty.