The feelgood factor that Scottish football was basking in before today now risks reaching go-crazy status following a victory over Ukraine that brings the Tartan Army ever closer to the Euro 2008 finals. Early goals from Kenny Miller and Lee McCulloch put the home side ahead but a 24th-minute strike from Andriy Shevchenko led to moments of high excitement and teeth-gnashing tension before James McFadden - him again - triggered wild celebrations by sealing three precious points in the 69th minute.
Four points from their remaining two matches - in Georgia on Wednesday and at home to Italy next month - will now guarantee Alex McLeish's men a ticket to the finals.
A sell-out Hampden Park was heaving even before kick-off this afternoon but Ukraine, who needed to win to maintain their own qualifcation hopes, showed early on that they were determined to gatecrash the party, Shevchenko rifling a long-range shot just over the bar in the first minute. Just three minutes later, however, the raucous Tartan Army were in raptures when Miller opened the scoring. Scott Brown had been chopped down wide on the right by Andriy Nesmachny and McFadden whipped the resultant free-kick in to the near post, where Miller peeled off his marker and nodded into the net.
The dream start drifted further into the realms of fantasy in the 10th minute, when the Scots added a superb second. Again it came from a free-kick - the Ukrainian defence were clearly expecting the ball to be lofted towards the forwards who'd clustered around the penalty spot, but instead McCulloch cleverly sneaked out to the corner of the box, was picked out neatly by Barry Ferguson, controlled the ball brilliantly and then capped off a well-worked routine by sending an unstoppable curler into the top corner.
Even after those two goals, however, the Scots could not relax, as the rollicking tempo and near-chaotic openness meant almost anything could happen. Brown and Ferguson combined brilliantly in the 24th minute to tear through the Ukrainian defence, only for the Celtic man to lose his footing just as he was about to shoot. Ukraine swept quickly forward and when Gary Naysmith failed to deal properly with a cross from the left, Nesmachny collected it on the right and sent it back into the danger zone via a slight flick off the head of Andriy Vorobey. That flick was enough to befuddle Scott McManus, who missed the ball and then watched in anguish as it struck Naysmith's arm. As some Ukrainians howled for a penalty, Shevchenko simply rocketed the ball into the roof of the net.
Slick and bold in possession, the Scots were looking jittery at the back and indecently exposed down the flanks. As the first half progressed the visitors' menace grew. Shevchenko wellied a wild free-kick over the bar before defender Vladimir Yezerskiy sprung the Scottish offside trap to latch on to a lofted Andriy Voronin pass. Eight yards out and with only Craig Gordon to beat, the centre-back drew relieved laughter from the home crowd by sending a feeble shot trickling wide.
As the tension mounted so too, incredibly, did the noise - but to the credit of both teams the quality of play did not dip. The same could not be said for the decisions of Dutch referee Pieter Vink, however, as he denied Scotland a penalty after Alan Hutton's burst into the box was brought to an abrupt halt by a blatant Vorobey foul.
Moments before half-time, it was the Ukrainians' turn to bawl in disbelief after Shevchenko was clattered to the ground by Naysmith just as he prepared to shoot and again the referee waved play on. There was still enough time for Vink to make yet another eccentric call before the break, as McFadden raided down the left and into the box only to be tripped by Andriy Tymoschuk. This time Vink did not ignore the angry Scottish appeals -no, he booked both Ferguson and McCulloch for dissent, meaning the latter will be suspended for Wednesday's journey to Georgia.
Ukraine manager Oleg Blokhin introduced Ruslan Rotan at half-time and within four minutes the winger made his presence felt, charging down the left before picking out Voronin on the edge of the box. The Lvierpool striker flashed a half-volley just wide. Voronin's aim was better two minutes later, but Gordon parried his 20-yard shot. Ukraine, though, were looking ever-more dangerous and Scotland were struggling to secure any sustained possession.
In the 66th minute, Ferguson, McFadden and Stephen Pearson swapped a series of snappy passes down the left and eventually won a corner. Though it was easily cleared, Scotland seemed to gain confidence from the move that had preceded it, and suddenly they got up a head of steam. Miller had a decent shot saved a minute later before, in the 69th minute, McFadden stepped into his now-familiar role of national hero, taking one touch to control a fine cross-field pass from Brown, and then lashing a left-footed drive under Olexandr Shovkovskiy and into the net. That effectively killed off the Ukrainian threat. And gave even more life to Scottish football's renaissance.