Scotland 3 Faroe Islands 0
Charlie Adam provided a couple of assists to help Craig Levein’s side to a comfortable victory over their Faroese opponents at Pittodrie. First half goals from debutant Danny Wilson and the breaking of international ducks for both Kris Commons and Jamie Mackie ended the friendly match as a contest by the interval. The visitors, managed by Brian Kerr, put up little resistance but could have taken the lead had Jann Ingi Petersen’s free kick not taken and nick and rattled the bar inside the opening ten minutes.
The quality of Scotland’s opposition was pretty much nonexistent and Gunnar Nielsen in the Faroe Islands goal was by a long shot the busier. Much of the build-up to this encounter in Aberdeen surrounded whether or not the game was a worthwhile venture with Levein experiencing so many withdrawals and resting experienced internationals. For me friendly matches are about blooding new players and trying new tactics. This should even be the case in games against rivals and with one eye on tomorrow it is encouraging to see that Fabio Capello has pledged to do this, even if injuries may have forced the Italian’s hand slightly. His Scottish counterpart certainly used tonight to have a look at new players, seven in total. Some may never get near the national squad again, but nobody did anything particularly wrong tonight.
Scotland are not going to come up against such slack defending from set pieces every time the nation plays and you can easily dismiss goals scored against weak opposition. If you look however at some of the big names of world football they have a number of international goals against lesser nations. Spain’s Fernando Torres and David Villa have 10 of 26 and 8 from 45 against sides ranked in the lower echelons of world football, and Mirsolav Klose has 7 of his 58, including a brace against the Faroe Islands. The big players still contribute to their totals from games like the one tonight and imagine the confidence scoring for the first time on the international stage may have given Mackie who has not been in the rich vein of form that he started the season with for QPR.
All this may be in the interests of balance but the defending of corners by Kerr’s men was just dreadful. Blackpool midfielder Adam made the most of this, sensing that getting deliveries in would cause panic and Levein’s side profited. Wilson got across his man to put the ball beyond Nielsen on twenty four minutes. Commons doubled the lead on the half hour with a flick and Mackie added the third before half time tapping home when Steven Caldwell headed down another debutant Barry Bannan’s cross. The Aston Villa youngster also caught the eye with some good passing and crashing a long range effort against the post. Scotland were never in any danger and after the break there wasn’t any real need to create an opening.
Looking further ahead Scotland will have sterner tests to come with the Nations Cup next spring and beyond that entertaining the Czechs next September and a visit to Spain the following month in EURO 2010 Qualifying Group I. They currently sit third two points behind a playoff place having played a game more. Not even the most optimistic Tartan Army supporter can believe they can win the group; that honour will go to the reigning European and World Champions, but they are contenders to finish second and much will hinge on the Czech Republic match at Hampden.
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