Paw Broon - It's all doon the hill fae here

"Ah huv an awful feelin'" ah says tae Maw Broon as wur makin oor way frae the stretch limousine tae the plush executive Corporate Hospitality suite in the BT Stand ay Hampden fer the six course dinner afore the Germany game.

"Well, ye should huv taken yer diahorrea medication afore we came oot like ah telt ye, ya daft auld basturd!" she says tae me.

"Naw!", ah says, "Ah dinnae mean ma dicky tummy, ya dozy cow, ah mean, this! This air of pre-match optimism that seems tae huv infected the Scots fans. It's just no right. Ah'm no comfortable wi' it at all. Is it just cos it's a bright sunny day? Or are the Tartan Army mair blootered than usual?"

Last time ah sensed that kind o' blind optimism amongst the supporters wis in St Etienne, France, 1998 World Cup Finals, and we got gubbed 3-0 by Morocco.

That wis a sunny day an aw. But we still got pished on.

On this occasion, though, it seems the confidence wis justified. Whether the players fed off the fans, or vice versa, doesnae really matter.

Whit does matter is that all the usual Scottish cliches which huv been posted missing in recent games were there in abundance. Grit, determination, passion, effort, belief, organisation, guile and even a little skill thrown in fer good measure.

"Whit did ye say tae the players tae get thum so fired up?" ah asked Berti.

"I told zem simply to get tore right in to zese fucking Germans!" he tells me.

"And sure enough" he continued, "zey all gave me and Rainer Bonhof a damn good kicking before they went out onto the pitch! Maybe I should haff been more specific, ja?"

Whitever the instructions, it worked a treat. Lambert wis imperious in midfield. Cameron had his best ever game in a Scotland jersey and nipped away at the Germans' heels like a bull-terrier wi' rabies. Dailly had Ballack by the bollocks. Kenny Miller put in a tireless shift as well as scoring the goal that sent Hampden into raptures, and young Andy Webster in his first competitive international looked like he's been playing international fitba all his life. Outstanding, every last one o' them.

Suddenly, once more, the future's bright, the future's tartan.

Sure, we may no huv won the game. But we won something far mair important than a mere football match.

And ah dinnae mean the "Silly Bunnet wearing competition" . We always expect tae come oot on top in that, regardless o' the opposition.

We won back oor self-respect.

So, well done Berti. Well done lads. We're proud o' you.

But dinnae get too cocky, right?

Like ah said tae Der Manager when he staggered off tae his bed efter wur three day celebratory marathon drinkin session that only just ended oan Monday night, "That wis guid fun, Berti, but mind, one swally doesnae make a summer."

We must do it again soon.