If Hitler had spent more time studying British football than he did studying Eva Braun, things might have been very different. The Battle of Britain could, had Rudolph Hess done his homework, easily have become the Battle of the British. We still have a chance of finding out what could have been, though, when England and Scotland square up - at Hampden Park on Saturday and Wembley on Tuesday - to decide who qualifies for Euro 2000, the tournament for national teams to be held in Holland and Belgium next year.The tie is, understandably, attracting much attention in Britain, and only partly due to footballing reasons. There's a history that comes with the tie that's probably without any sporting parallel. The Ashes, even Bodyline, seems like a stroll in the park compared to what footballers and football fans can conjure up.The enmity goes back several centuries, of course, to the time of Braveheart, of Robert Bruce and William Wallace, of Bannockburn and Edward Longshanks. to English oppression ofthe Scottish lairds. All of which culminated in the vote for Scottish devolution recently.Back to football, though, and where the game plays its part, is in offering players and spectators a chance to relieve some of that tension, which they do without second bidding. The two countries had an annual fixture that was the high point of the respective fixtures calendars. The football was not usually memorable, though each country can claim at least one famous win.For Scotland, that win came about in the late 1920s, when they boasted a forward line of immense skill but equally remarkable brevity. The night before the match, at Wembley, the Scottish forwards were advised to `go to bed and pray for rain'. This they presumably did, because it poured the whole night through, the Wembley pitch was virtually unplayable and the Scottish forwards dribbled their way to a 5-1 win. The English had to wait till 1961 for any commensurate revenge; that year, with Jimmy Greaves in top gear, they demolished Scotland9-3.Sadly, the fans began to get out of control, notably in 1977 when Scottish fans invaded the Wembley pitch and tore down the goalposts. The contest was stopped in the 80s and, since then, the two sides have met only once in a match of consequence. That was at Euro 96, when England won.This time around, the drama surrounding the tie fits the bill. There is, of course, the finality of the whole affair one team through, the other out. As if that wasn't enough, the English camp has to deal with a rift between two of its key players, skipper Alan Shearer and Andy Cole. In his recently serialised biography, Cole who's played just five games for England suggested that Shearer was the `golden boy' of English football managers and owed his regular international performances to that.The timing was bad. Shearer may have been in poor form when the book was written, but he's currently enjoying vintage form and is the top goalscorer in the Premiership. He replied to Cole in last Saturday's club matchprogramme, and England manager Kevin Keegan seemed to have an internal squabble on his hands. It's the last thing he could have wanted, because his striking pair will probably be Shearer and Cole. The last we heard, Cole and Shearer had met in the manager's room. Fireworks, if any, will presumably be saved for the Hampden pitch.Keegan has another, more pleasant problem to deal with: Choosing a goalkeeper. First-choice David Seaman is having a poor run with his club Arsenal, mainly because of the creaking, leaking back four in front of him. His understudy, Leeds' Nigel Martyn, is sparkling, as are his club. Seaman, though, has the head for the Big Match and experience may just take precedence over form.If there is any worry over discipline on the field, it centres round the ever-volatile David Beckham. He's known for his low provocation threshold and the Hampden crowd will try every trick in the book to wind him up. So watch out for an interesting sideshow.Jayaditya Gupta can be contacted one-mail at: joygupta@express2.indexp.co.inCheck ListBOUNCING BACK: Soon after being dumped out of the Champions' League, AC Milan came back with a 3-0 win over Venezia. The result was even sweeter because bitter rivals Internazionale Ronaldo & Co lost 3-0 at Bologna.MAN ON TOP: Man United reclaimed the top spot in the Premiership with a brace of Andy Cole goals, one of which an overhead bicycle kick will doubtless be among the goals of the season. They seem to have put their disappointing form of September and October behind them and lloking more like a treble-winning side.RED MIST: Arsenal's weakness for all things red not counting, of course, their bank balance spilled over in the derby match against Spurs last week when Martin Keown and Frederick Ljungberg were sent off. That takes to 26 the number of players sent off during Arsene Wenger's three-year reign, and the erudite, philosophical Frenchman is now being accused of protecting his players.
