When Haiti stuck four goals past New Zealand in Miami, a bead of sweat rolled down the brow of Scots who felt they had watched this World Cup movie before. With luck and a fair wind, this one will bring a better ending.
Scoring four goals in the opening 45 minutes, Steve Clarke’s side held Bolivia’s feet to the fire in the baking cauldron of the Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey last night. In a blistering first half, before the usual raft of substitutions, they were excellent.
One of the lingering selection issues facing Scotland’s manager has effectively been put to bed. After three goals in two games, there can be no doubt over the inclusion of Lawrence Shankland now. And, if it’s a strike partner he needs, Che Adams is just the man.
Shankland opened the scoring before Adams claimed goals three and four as Scotland rattled in four before half-time. Scott McTominay claimed the other, and it all felt very un-Scottish at times.
Two assists were a fitting reward for the blistering pace and invention of the excellent Ben Gannon-Doak. On this kind of form, he makes Scotland a better football team.
They started as they meant to go on when overlapping Andrew Robertson hung a cross up for Shankland to find space at the back post and bury a header after five minutes. Eighteen minutes later, a tidy move ended in McTominay doing just enough to squirm a low strike through the hands of unconvincing Bolivian keeper Guillermo Viscarra.
Adams then helped himself to a double crafted by the direct, blistering running of Gannon-Doak.
Scotland are ranked 43rd in the FIFA World rankings, Bolivia 77th. The Scots should be winning these games, and it helped no end that Bolivia were pretty inept. They lost seven of their last 12 games, with one of their rare wins coming against Brazil in the city of El Alto, 4000m above sea level and the highest major city in the world.
Regardless of Friday’s defeat to Peru, Haiti will give Scotland a significantly tougher game. Yet by reverting to a meat and two veg formation with two strikers and wide men capable of crossing the ball and making chances, Scotland have now scored eight goals in two games. And it’s quite some time since anyone had cause to write that.
SHANKLAND, ADAMS OR BOTH?
THE bandwagon gathering pace behind Lawrence Shankland gathered a bit of speed when the new Rangers striker scored a couple of cracking goals against Curacao.
That’s all well and good. But Che Adams has been Scotland’s top striker for a while, and he deserves to play.
Playing the two of them in a 4-4-2 offered an effective solution. Shankland is better with a partner to play off, and Clarke has now played two up front in back-to-back internationals.
The former Hearts skipper planted a back post header into the net after five minutes, and you have to go back to September to find the last time he went more than two consecutive games without scoring. Adams converted goals three and four effectively and, if it’s a front two, the decision is surely clear-cut.
CAN GANNON-DOAK CONVINCE?
SUDDENLY the great speed merchant of the Scottish national team is peering over his shoulder. Findlay Curtis is coming up on the rails, giving him a run for his money.
Steve Clarke flagged up the question in his mind when he spoke to the written press in Miami and expressed his admiration for the way the young Rangers winger sets about his business.
Often criticised for his end product, Gannon-Doak accepted the challenge. He raced onto a fine ball in behind from Aaron Hickey and rolled it perfectly into the path of Adams for 3-0.
He came close to a goal of his own when neat footwork ended in a blistering shot pushed over the bar by Viscarra. When he gathered the ball and ran from his own half, you could almost smell the fear in the Bolivia defence. With the excellent Aaron Hickey minding his back, Gannon-Doak surely starts.
THE JOHN MCGINN QUESTION
THIS one would have been unthinkable before kick-off. It might still be sacrilegious in some eyes. Yet, for the first time in however long, the opening 45 minutes raised the question of whether Aston Villa’s Europa League winning captain might actually start the World Cup on the bench.
A ridiculous concept? Maybe. Unlikely? Certainly. Yet by starting the excellent Ryan Christie on the left and Gannon-Doak on the right - with Lewis Ferguson and McTominay in the middle - Scotland’s midfield bore a nice balance. McGinn brought his trademark energy and purpose to the second half, proving that Clarke has good, strong options in that area and a decision to make.
Whoever he leaves out will feel a sense of injustice. And they’ll be right.
FEELING THE HEAT
The temperature in New Jersey’s neat, compact Sports Illustrated Stadium touched 33 degrees centigrade at kick-off. A breeze and a thin covering of cloud did Scotland no harm at all.
Charging around wasting energy is tricky in these temperatures. The Scots took a more patient passing approach instead, and it seemed to suit them. They picked their moments and pounced when the time was right. Say what you like about Bolivia, but they’re not Gibraltar or San Marino. Scotland played some really nice football against a nation higher than Haiti in the FIFA rankings
SELLING THE JERSEYS
PRETTY in pink Scotland wore their second kit in New Jersey and will wear it again when they line up against Haiti in Foxborough, near Boston, next weekend.
And history shows that Scotland have never won a game at the World Cup finals while wearing an away kit.
They’ve done it five times in total, losing to France and drawing with Yugoslavia in Sweden way back in 1958. They then failed to beat the Yugoslavs in 1974, lost to Costa Rica in 1990 and drew 1-1 with Norway the last time they appeared at the World Cup Finals in 1998.
The dark blue home kit has hardly been a lucky charm either. In 23 appearances at the World Cup finals, the Scots have won just four games, the last at Italia 90. Regardless of the jersey, they have a bad habit of selling them on football’s biggest stage.
