Scots go top as McFadden stuns French

The Everton star's outrageous 35-yard strike gave Alex McLeish's men a magnificent 1- 0 win and elevated them above both World Cup Finalists in the race to Euro 2008.

And McFadden, whose effort against Lithuania on Saturday drew comparisons with Kenny Dalglish, was thrilled with the coup de grace that flattened the French for the second time in 11 months.

"It does not get any better than that," he said with a grin in the Parc des Princes.

"It is the best moment I have enjoyed in football but, hopefully, it can get even better and we can actually qualify. It is my best night in a Scotland shirt - so far. I'd love for us to take it a stage further.

"We've some big games coming up and we hope we can keep our form going. We must not get carried away but there's no doubt it is a brilliant feeling to have beaten a team like France."

Describing his goal, McFadden added: "It was a kick from Craig Gordon and I saw Barry jump with Claude Makelele but I felt they would both miss it. I took a touch to kill the ball and turned to hit the shot. I thought: 'Let's have a go'.

"It is not even a split-second decision you have, believe me. I think you do it through instinct and think about it afterwards.

"Thankfully, it has gone in and we have the three points. I was pleased with Saturday's goal but that tops it for me.

"France are one of the best teams in the world and they've been hard to beat at home in qualifiers. But we have done it and are thrilled. As soon as I hit it, I saw their keeper was scrambling a wee bit. We trained in the stadium the night before the game and the ball was flying around and swerving.

"So I thought: "If I get a chance, I'll shoot'. I knew right away the keeper was worried and then I heard a roar from the Tartan Army.

"He got his hand to it but all he could do was push it into the net."

The win was the first in 57 years on French soil and Scotland now sit top of the section with three games left.

Luminaries like Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger watched as McLeish's generation grew up against world-class names like Patrick Vieira and Nicolas Anelka.

"It is fantastic to be sitting above France and Italy and don't forget that Ukraine did well in the World Cup, too," McFadden said. "We always believed but tonight just hammers home we have a real chance of being at the Finals.

"We had to defend well and all the guys behind me did a magnificent job. France were desperate to equalise but, from big Craig Gordon out, we were really solid."

Meanwhile, Darren Fletcher limped out of the Parc des Princes on crutches after a clash with Patrick Vieira and there are real fears for the midfielder's left knee.

"I will need to have it assessed - we don't know yet what is wrong," said Fletcher. Fletcher is banned for the Ukraine game after landing his fourth yellow card in seven qualifiers last night.

France coach Raymond Domenech said: "Scotland scored with their only shot. It will go down to the wire - there are still nine points to take."