Don Hutchison gives Scotland stars two-word masterplan on how to repeat his Germany heroics

Don Hutchison will forever be remembered by the Tartan Army for his soaring leap under the Twin Towers.

But the former Scotland favourite admits he’d never have had his Wembley moment without his bullet strike in Bremen - and Tommy Burns. Hutchison made history when he nodded home with the only goal against England in what was the Scots’ last trip to London before the Three Lions’ home was torn down and rebuilt. But he’s also in the record books for being the last Scot to score a winning goal against Germany with his clinical strike in a friendly a few months before that play-off clash with the Auld Enemy.

His Wembley header wasn’t enough to book a slot for Craig Brown’s side at Euro 2000 but it has secured him a place in the hearts of the Scotland faithful. Hutchison, though, is the first to admit he thought his cap career had been killed off before it had even got started after a dismal night in Wrexham.

The former Liverpool, West Ham, Everton and Sunderland midfielder-turned-frontman was raised in Gateshead but was eligible to pull on a dark blue jersey thanks to his Nairn-born dad Douglas. His first invite from the SFA came in 1994 when he was called up for a ‘B’ international friendly against Wales.

Hutchinson was hardly a stand-out in a 2-1 defeat but something stuck in the mind of Burns, who had been asked to take the team that night by national boss Brown. Fast forward five years and when Brown was short of a striker ahead of the clash with Germany, it was Burns who suggested Hutchison be called in from the cold.

Thrown his big chance against Die Mannschaft, Hutchison took it when he laced the ball past Jens Lehman. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Looking back on his big break, Hutchison told Record Sport: “It was Tommy Burns who was behind my call up. I’d played in a ‘B’ international against Wales in Wrexham. It was a bit of a bang average game, I didn’t really stand out.

“But Tommy played me up front in the second half. Now I didn’t really think I’d done much - I can’t because I never got a call up for another five years! But I saw an interview with Craig recently where he tells this lovely story about how he was looking for a striker because all the guys in the Scotland squad were injured.

“He asks Tommy if there’s anyone from the B team he should put in the squad and Tommy suggested my name. But Broony goes, ‘No chance - he won’t get in the team, we’ve got Barry Ferguson, Paul Lambert, John Collins, Gary McAllister, Stuart McCall’. All midfield legends at that time.

“But Tommy goes, ‘No, as a striker! He did well against Wales all those years ago, give him a try’. So I got a call up for that friendly against Germany where I scored on my full debut - and a few months later I then got the goal against England at Wembley, so I’ve got a lot to thank Tommy Burns for.”

Hutchison was a late convert to playing up top but the then 27-year-old looked like he’d spent his entire life as a striker as he coolly fired past Lehman. However, his celebration routine wasn’t quite as slick.

He laughed: “It was a decent finish for my goal but the celebration was absolutely sh*t! I didn’t know what to do! I just ended up clapping, which looked ridiculous. It looked like I was clapping my own finish!

“But it was a real big moment for my Scotland career. I hadn’t had a sniff of a call-up since that ‘B’ cap I’d won against Wales in 1994.

“So to go from that night in Wrexham, where I must have been crap because I never got a game for five years, to scoring against Germany was quite a big leap forward. And I look back on it now with extra significance because it put me in the frame for the England game a few months down the line.

“That set me up for that night at Wembley, which is probably what I’m best remembered for up in Scotland. That England game would never have happened without that night in Bremen.”

Steve Clarke will be hoping one of his men will walk out of Munich’s Allianz Arena with their own moment to remember tomorrow night as they kick-off the Euros. And Hutchison said: “I’m optimistic. I certainly wouldn’t have any fear as a Scotland player.

“I don’t think footballers go into games with that kind of mindset. When you go into the tunnel and the opposition line-up alongside you, you see it as a challenge.

“I’ve been there. I’ve stood there and watched Manchester United greats like Paul Scholes and Roy Keane strut up beside me. I played against Arsenal’s Invincibles, I went up against Lothar Matthaus in that Germany game. And I was never, ever fearful. It just wasn’t in my make up and I don’t think there will be any of that in Steve Clarke’s squad.

“They’re there for a reason. They are international quality footballers who have qualified by right.

“So for the likes of John McGinn or Scott McTominay going up against someone like Toni Kroos, I’m sure they will see that as a test.

“Kroos is a quality midfielder, one of the best in the world. But it’s up to our guys to find a way to disrupt him, to take away his positives and impose their own.

“Can McGinn and McTominay use their legs to drag him around the pitch into areas he doesn’t want to go? Of course, we probably don’t want to get involved in a stand-up football match with a six-time Champions League winner because he’ll be too good.

“But Steve Clarke will have a plan for how to deal with him. I expect they’ll put McGinn up against Kroos and hope his energy can nullify Germany’s main creator.”