Away fans still sing: 'Wilkie Wilkie give us a goal' "I was a bit surprised when I heard I was playing, and you do think to yourself that there will be people out there who doubt whether you can do it. It continued when he scored a first-minute own goal and conceded two penalties in a draw with Rangers. Impartial to a fault in Old Firm affairs, he soon gifted Celtic two goals before being substituted in a 6-2 trouncing."People were coming up to me in the street and the mistakes against Rangers and Celtic were all they wanted to talk about," he said yesterday. "Away fans still sing: 'Wilkie, Wilkie, give us a goal'."They may change their tune after he helped subdue Van Nistelrooy, Patrick Kluivert et al in a match he expected to watch from the bench. Collective cringing swept Hampden Park as his name was announced, the legacy of three weeks last spring when the roof again seemed about to cave in on his career.Wilkie's calamitous run began when he incurred the suspension that meant he missed Dundee's first Scottish Cup final in 39 years. The swings and roundabouts of outrageous fortune might have been purpose-built for Lee Wilkie. In Amsterdam tomorrow, Scotland's shaven-headed 23-year-old will attempt to keep Ruud van Nistelrooy off the scoresheet for the second time in four days, but he could easily have been watching on television after a hard day's grouting and tiling. Then Berti Vogts, watching a humdrum game in the rain in his new role as Scotland's manager, spotted something in the 6ft 4in defender.Before the stirring 1-0 defeat of the Netherlands last Saturday, when Wilkie took literally Vogts' exhortation for the Scots to play "the game of their lives" in the first leg of the Euro 2004 play-off, few among the Tartan Army shared the German's faith. He was diagnosed as suffering from low blood pressure, a problem he has had before.If he pulls out, his likely replacement on the right of midfield would be Milan's Clarence Seedorf who came off the bench on Saturday. PSV Eindhoven's speedy Arjen Robben is tipped to start on the left flank after joining the squad on Sunday..
"The only possibility of this being overturned is when there is a case of mistaken identity" a Uefa spokesperson said. "They can obviously appeal but the outcome would be quite straightforward." Despite this, the Scottish Football Association is still expected to appeal.The Dutch winger Andy van der Meyde fell ill yesterday and is doubtful for the game. The Internazionale player collapsed during a radio interview and fell on to a set of speakers, suffering a head wound. Uefa has effectively ruled out the possibility of rescinding Christian Dailly's caution to enable him to play for Scotland against the Netherlands in Amsterdam tomorrow in the Euro 2004 play-off second leg. The West Ham defender was booked by the Norwegian referee, Terje Hauge, during Saturday's 1-0 first-leg win at Hampden Park. |
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