How Scotland won the Kirin Cup #2: Saitama was oasis in desert for Walter’s nearly men
Scoreless triumph was vintage Smith – then all manager had to worry about was that nobody was (still) in jail the next morning
By Stephen McGowan
Japan opened the 2006 Kirin Cup with a loss to Bulgaria before Scotland thumped the same opponents 5-1. Avoiding defeat in the second game against the hosts would win the tournament, a scenario tailor-made for the tactical pragmatism which served Walter Smith so well throughout a glittering career. Even if he told a colleague later that his throat was so dry from the night before that he could barely get his team talk out.
Coached by Brazilian icon Zico, Japan planned a big send-off before heading to Germany for the World Cup finals. Playing the game in the space-age Saitama Stadium, the host nation did their bit to make Scotland feel at home by conjuring up the kind of biblical rain usually seen in Millport in the middle of July.
“The first game had felt like any normal friendly,” says Steven Caldwell. “The second was like, ‘Ooft, this is one you want to play in.’
“I remember pre-match stuff like dragons on the field, a show for the fans. There was a big crowd. I was gutted I wasn’t involved in that game. It was such a spectacular build-up.”
The Scots managed to weather the storm. Half-time created some respite opportunity for yours truly to phone Slater, Hogg and Howison in Greenock and submit a verbal offer for a house already gone in the midst of the fevered, overheated property market of 2006. Japan came to know how that felt, spending the second half knocking loudly on Scotland’s door, unable to find a key to secure a way in. Somehow or other, the lock held firm.
“We were pumped 0-0,” Caldwell acknowledges. “But we defended well and hunkered down and managed to win the Kirin Cup. They were so up for it because they wanted to give their fans a big send-off. And we were just hanging in there in a classic Walter game.”
In the post-match mixed zone afterwards, coach Archie Knox, drafted in to cover for the unavailable Tommy Burns, marched up to the man from the News of The World and, with a nod to Smith and Ally McCoist, asked: “What the f*** did you do to them last night?”
Presented with a trophy taller than Chris Burke, captain David Weir painted on a rictus grin for the cameras while posing for pictures with a huge cheque. “It was for something like £10,000 from the sponsors from memory,” recalls team doctor John MacLean. “But nobody had told the players that there was a prize for winning the tournament.
“There was no real bonus up for grabs for the players in those days and I don’t know if the SFA were trying to keep the winners’ prize quiet or not, but the cat was out the bag when David was handed this giant cheque which was 10 feet by three feet.”
The £10,000 would barely have covered the bar bills at the end of a night of celebration when the only thing missing was Jimmy Johnstone swaying unsteadily from side to side in a Largs rowing boat. “I still think of that night out,” laughs Caldwell. “Brilliant.”
Brewing company Kirin set the ball rolling by laying on a few crates of the sponsors’ product in the changing room. “We had a bottle or two and I remember Walter coming on the bus and saying, ‘Listen boys, you can have a night out and a few beers, just make sure you are ready for the bus in the morning.’”
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