Great Scots put woeful England in shade

PARIS: Scotland clinched a famous 1-0 win over World Cup finalists France to thrillingly prove that there is more to British football than England.

Gary Caldwell on Saturday grabbed the only goal at a wet and wild Hampden Park in Glasgow as Walter Smith's men maintained their perfect start to their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

Meanwhile, 350km to the south at Old Trafford in Manchester, England's much-hyped team laboured to a 0-0 draw with Macedonia.

By the end of Saturday's action, the only thing Scotland and England had in common was that both still lead their qualifying groups.

Caldwell refused to get carried away, insisting his team-mates must focus on the trip to Ukraine on Wednesday.

"It is amazing, an unbelievable result. One of the best ever for Scotland," he said.

"But the group goes on and there is a long way to go. It is an amazing start but we have to keep our feet on the ground and go again in Ukraine."

Celtic defender Caldwell scored in the 67th minute to give the Scots their third win in three matches in Group B, a section which also includes world champion Italy who saw off Ukraine 2-0 in Rome.

France coach Raymond Domenech was so dispirited that he turned his fire on the local ball-boys.

"For me the Scots played fairly but I was very disappointed with the ball-boys who slowed down the game and didn't give the ball back straight away," moaned Domenech.