Scotland and World Cup glory rarely share a sentence, but in Argentina in 1978 Archie Gemmill gave them three minutes of it. In the 68th minute against the Netherlands, the small Scottish midfielder weaved past three Dutch defenders inside the penalty area, among them Jan Poortvliet, and chipped the ball over goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed.
It put Scotland 3-1 up against the side that had reached the 1974 World Cup final. The Tartan Army have been talking about it for nearly fifty years.
Why is Gemmill's goal also Scotland's cruellest?
Because of what happened next. The Netherlands scored almost straight away to make it 3-2, and although Scotland won the match, they went out on goal difference. The greatest goal in their history ended up changing nothing.
The goal itself was worth all the talk. Gemmill had very little room to work with in a crowded box, and he found a way through three defenders before finishing with a delicate chip rather than a blast. Plenty of players would have shot early. He kept going.
It became so much a part of Scottish culture that it was recreated in the film Trainspotting. Few goals from a match that ended in elimination get that treatment, and that tells you how much it mattered, and still matters, to every Scottish supporter.
Tomorrow: number 25.
