Smith returned to football when he had a short spell as assistant manager to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United at the end of the 2003–04 season. During this time Manchester United won the 2004 FA Cup Final, beating Millwall at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Scotland national team Smith was appointed manager of the Scottish national team on 2 December 2004, succeeding Berti Vogts. Despite a revival of fortunes under Smith, including a home draw with Italy and an away win against Norway, hopes of reaching the 2006 World Cup were ended by a 1–0 home defeat against Belarus. Scotland's world ranking improved by seventy places during his tenure. Scotland recorded a famous victory against World Cup runners-up France in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualification match at Hampden and temporarily led their group by three points. A 2–0 defeat against Ukraine on 11 October 2006 was the first of the campaign. Return to Rangers On 5 January 2007, press outlets reported that Rangers had spoken to Smith with a view to hiring him to manage Rangers again, with Ally McCoist as assistant manager. The Scottish FA initially rebuffed Rangers' approach for Smith, but his return as Rangers manager was announced on 10 January 2007. He succeeded Paul Le Guen, who had left the club by mutual consent after Rangers had been knocked out of the 2006–07 Scottish League Cup by First Division side St Johnstone and fallen 17 points behind Celtic in the 2006–07 Scottish Premier League; caretaker manager Ian Durrant (who had previously played under him) was retained on the coaching staff. Smith's first match in his second spell at Ibrox was a 5–0 win against Dundee United on 13 January, with two goals from Kris Boyd and one each from Barry Ferguson, Chris Burke and Charlie Adam. Smith's first final since his return was secured with a 2–0 win over Hearts in the 2007–08 Scottish League Cup. Rangers played Dundee United in the 2008 Scottish League Cup Final; the game was drawn 1–1 after normal time, and 2–2 after extra time. The winners were decided by penalty kicks. Rangers won 3–2, with Kris Boyd scoring the winning penalty (as well as the goals for Rangers in normal time and extra time). In the 2007–08 UEFA Cup, Smith booked Rangers' first European final for 36 years, after an exit in the UEFA Champions League group stage on the final