No tears but plenty of beers at party in Prague

DID you guys just win the World Cup?" queried a naively-unaware American tourist in Prague's Old Town square. "Yeah man, we won the World Cup. Gerrinthere," came the reply from one of my more jocular Jambo associates, who offered her a clenched fist just to emphasise his enthusiasm for the cause.

With that she went on about her business, still in a daze as to why all these inebriated Scots had swarmed all over her cultural city-break destination. She deserved a little credit, though, for managing to avoid being biffed in the face by the footballs and basketballs that were being unceremoniously booted about the square. The Jambos who gathered in the Old Town were going to do someone some harm.

To ensure order was maintained, the gun-wielding riot police quickly confiscated all spherical objects, although disappointingly they made an exception for Chris Robinson. With the Czech constabulary sporting automatic machine-guns stuffed into their trousers, there weren't many from Edinburgh likely to argue about having their toys taken away.

Lee Wallace was nowhere to be seen, despite the presence of heavy firepower. He was busy preparing for the game and was later to deliver an impressive display in the Toyota Arena. Those who follow his team were doing their own preparatory work throughout the afternoon, i.e. getting lashed on Budvar.

It was easy to forget that the match against Sparta was the fundamental reason for us all being there. For most of the fans, excessive consumption of local beer at 70 pence a whip seemed to be all that mattered. We journalists stuck to the Evian water, of course. The journey to the Czech Republic had credibly been made by thousands of Jambos. Soaked in beer, sweat and unwavering belief, they were in town to see their team overturn a two-goal UEFA Cup deficit from the first leg and make Scottish football history. It seemed like they'd brought the city of Edinburgh with them as they converged on the Toyota Arena.

"You're not fit to wear maroon," was one of the early chants of the match. Upon hearing it my first thought was that Ludek Straceny must have returned to Hearts, but it turned out the taunting was aimed at the Sparta players.

Hearts couldn't manage the improbable in the end, which was no disgrace as the players succeeded in restoring some pride in Prague. The supporters couldn't mask their disappointment at full-time, but in typical Scottish fashion tried to look on the parochial bright side. "Ach well, at least we lasted longer than Hibs," said one.

With both our teams out of European competition, the Edinburgh eye is cast somewhat reluctantly towards Glasgow now to see if the Rangers or Celtic players can justify our country's co-efficient. Failing that, all we can look forward to is the opening of Vlad's new bank as the biggest news item of the winter. Anyone who fancies a loan get along to Ukio Bankas. Vlad's an expert.

As we headed to the airport on Thursday night, my thoughts returned to the afternoon spent in the Old Town square. I wondered if the American tourist had watched the game. If so, what were her thoughts on Valdas' substitutions and who did she want to win?

Her football knowledge clearly couldn't have been termed expansive, but I doubt she'd have been cheering Hearts after having the mince taken out of her by a Jambo.

To the Tynecastle support, the UEFA Cup had become the World Cup in a sense. But there's always next year. For now, it's over to those two giants in Glasgow.

Taken from the Scotsman