It would go down as one of the most memorable moments ever  in a World Cup, up there with the ‘Hand of God’ or Roberto Baggio’s blast over the bar in ’94. Archie Gemmill’s goal against Holland in the 1978 ranks up there with the best of them.

Needing to win the game by three goals to advance to the knock-out stages, Scotland led 2-1 after 68 minutes. It was then that Gemmill collected the ball, played a majestic one-two with Kenny Dalglish before driving into the box and superbly firing past Dutch goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed to the astonishment of the footballing world.

Never was there a player more unlikely to perform such a feat on the world stage. The little midfielder with the balding head, speeding past the big Dutch defence like a man on a mission before tucking away the finish. His strike dared the Scots to dream of reaching the final stages for the first time in their history.

Unfortunately they were unable to grab that extra goal and finished the game with a 3-2 victory. It was probably the only time in Scottish football history that the players walked off the pitch after defeating one of the greatest sides in the world and were left still ruing their luck.

But for Gemmill his moment of magic would endear himself to the Scottish public and live in the memories of many for years to come.

For more recent generations his stunning strike was immortalised after it was featured in the film, Trainspotting. In an infamous scene Ewan MacGregor’s character makes the proclamation after a late-night tryst with an attractive young girl that “I haven’t felt this good since Archie Gemmill scored against Holland in 1978”. Whether any would-be Renton’s have chanced that priceless line after a similar rendezvous is anybody’s guess.

Scotland’s current crop of players have found the biggest stage of all rather hard to come by since the turn of the century. However the heroics of home and away victories over France during Euro 2008 qualifying did provide a reminder of the nation’s long history of glorious failures. While not achieved on such a grand stage as Gemmill’s, James McFadden’s wonder-strike in Paris is as close as any Scot has come in recent years to reliving such glory.

This time around Scotland will be hoping to lay to rest the ghosts of the 6-0 drubbing in 2003 at the hands of the Dutch when they visit the Amsterdam Arena on Saturday. The current squad has undoubtedly come a long way since then. And maybe, just maybe, a little dose of the unlikely brilliance that was seen in ’78 may repeat itself.