Scotland v Italy Hampden Park, Glasgow Today, Kick-off - 5pm On TV - Sky Sports 1: It demonstrates the insatiable appetite for Scotland's reckoning against the world champions, Italy, this afternoon that hundreds applied for a job they hoped to leave the moment they clocked on.
Prestige Scotland, the caterer responsible for feeding the 51,000 at Hampden Park, have taken no chances. The company have employed extra staff for Scotland's decisive Euro 2008 qualifier in the anticipation that some will disappear from behind burger bars or beneath canape trays (executive lounges only) and into the crowd once the opening bars of Flower of Scotland hit the Hampden concourses.
The caterer's advertisement for part-time recruits was linked to a Tartan Army website as the ticketless masses sought an alternative route into Hampden for Scotland's biggest game since the 1998 World Cup.
It is a contest that offers one chance for the hosts to complete a miracle in qualifying from a group including last year's World Cup finalists and Ukraine; potential humiliation for Italy just 16 months after Fabio Cannavaro resembled a Roman candle with the trophy in Berlin; the despair of falling at the last; or the start of four torturous days should the game end in a draw and Scotland have to await the outcome of France's visit to Kiev. The hard sell is not required.
It is also a fixture that has brought widespread recognition at last for Scotland's revival under Walter Smith and latterly Alex McLeish.
Throughout this week McLeish has preached a message that his team cannot fail against Italy as they have already achieved so much. For many Scots the attraction to glorious failure is hard to let go, but there is widespread agreement that their revival does not stand or fall on this game.
Gordon Smith, the chief executive of the SFA, explained last night: "We are all desperate to win and desperate for success but it should be recognised that where we are now is success in itself. There won't be a return to the negative attitude that has sometimes surrounded Scotland if we don't get there. "
Guardian Service
Probable teams
SCOTLAND:Craig Gordon; Alan Hutton, Gary Naysmith, David Weir, Stephen McManus; Barry Ferguson, Darren Fletcher, Paul Hartley, Scott Brown; James McFadden, Kenny Miller.
ITALY:G Buffon; C Panucci, A Barzagli, F Cannavaro, G Zambrotta; M Ambrosini, G Gattuso, A Pirlo; A Di Natale, L Toni, V Iaquinta.
