Scotland 2 - Belgium 2

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Glasgow doesn't have the same scenery and archictecture that Edinburgh has, but it's a funkier city and the nightlife is better (and Edinburgh had some pretty good nightlife). I met up with Stephen and Alistair, two Scots I had met at a bar (naturally) in Greenwich Village when I went out to New York for the Subway Series last year.

Luckily for me there was a World Cup qualifying match against Belgium the day I was there, so we went to a pub to watch out and get 'oot-the-geme' which is Scottish for extremely drunk (the only way that Scottish people get drunk). Scottish football fans get extra patriotic for football games, sporting kilts and tartan caps and even the occasional bagpipes. The game started off well, with the normally passive Scots scoring less than 2 minutes into the game on their first posession, and then Dodds scored again on a penalty kick after a Belgian player was sent off. Despite being a man up for most of the match, they couldn't score again and missed a few golden opportunities. Belgium scored in the second half on a Marc Wilmots header, and then equalized 2 minutes into injury time (and less than 10 seconds before the end of the game) on a header by Daniel van Buyten, who should've been given a red card earlier in the half. It was a melancholy end to what was otherwise a great game for Scotland, but unlike England the Scots handled the disappointment with class and were more than happy to celebrate with the Belgian fans who had come up to Glasgow for the match. Half of the Scottish football cheers are pro-Scotland, and the other half are anti-English, no matter whom they're playing. 'If you hate England stand up, if you hate England stand up...'

We went on a good pub crawl that night to a bunch of great bars, including Sub Club, Revolution, and a few others that I just can't remember any more. That's what happens when you get oot-the-geme!