"What's the opposite of glorious failure? For a whole generation of Scotland supporters who have been brought up on heroic performances ultimately proving fruitless, this campaign has produced preposterous result after preposterous result. Steve Clarke's side are now - somehow, inexplicably - one game away from qualifying for a first men's World Cup in 27 years, and are doing so amid a series of inglorious successes."
"The extraordinary game in Pireaus on Saturday - which had Scotland 3-0 down to then lost 3-2 - was the latest, and arguably most ludicrous outing in this squad's outrageous quest for immortality. Should they reach next summer's tournament in North America, they'll owe Belarus a few beers after they drew with Denmark in Copenhagen to set-up Tuesday's winner-takes-all shootout with the Danes."
"They can head to the bar after they've thanked their lucky stars for the sequence of events which have, for once, fallen in their favour and contributed to the position the Scots find themselves in. A position which is so untypically Scottish. Clarke perhaps put it best in his post-match media conference: "A crazy game, a crazy night". It was one which started - and equally ended - with a magnificent mixed bag of emotions."
Scotland sit one game from qualifying for a first men's World Cup in 27 years after a run of improbable results. The team survived a chaotic 3-2 comeback win in Piraeus after trailing 3-0. A draw between Belarus and Denmark created a winner-takes-all shootout with Denmark that now decides qualification. The away trip to Greece was nervy, with an early Tasos Bakasetas goal and a vintage performance from 42-year-old Craig Gordon keeping Scotland in the tie. The campaign has been characterised by unpredictability, lack of structure at times, and a rollercoaster of emotions described as "A crazy game, a crazy night".
Read at www.bbc.com
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