Argentina expose gap in class with Craig Burley’s men

There can be no shame, surely, in Scotland losing by such a thin margin to Argentina - thin, that is, at least in terms of goals. At Hampden Park last night the murky and mysterious business went on of trying to fathom just what progress Scotland are making under George Burley. On this evidence, alas, it is none too easy to explain.

This friendly match was won comfortably by Diego Maradona’s men, even if Scotland made a hearty fight of it on occasion. Maxi RodrÍguez’s goal after a mere eight minutes proved a comfortable cushion for the South Americans, who thereafter looked content to make a thorough training exercise of the occasion. Scotland’s visitors, it also must be said, were bitter about some of the tackles they had to endure.

It was a faintly weird Scottish night. The Tartan Army, clearly aware that their team had inferior talent in most areas of the pitch, took to ironic cheering whenever Burley’s men managed to string three or four passes together. Self-parody is acceptable in small doses. It must be hoped that, come the spring and the serious World Cup business, this levity will give way to something more serious and expectant.
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The night proved to be a struggle for Barry Ferguson. The Rangers captain had good cause to be peripheral, having just returned from injury, but rarely can he have been as insignificant in a Scotland jersey. On a number of occasions Ferguson toiled to keep pace with the game, and, frankly, his mind didn’t seem to be fully engaged. Burley gave his returning captain an hour before replacing him with Scott Robertson.

You have to wonder about this whole circus surrounding Maradona. The media – and not just the British version – have been agog in Glasgow since Argentina arrived in town, and there have been various bulletins and essays on Anglo-Argentine relations since 1986, the principal input on it all being provided by Terry Butcher. Concerning the so-called “Hand of God” goal, can any one man anywhere in football have festered for so long over a handball?

Moreover, has the Scottish public really caught this Maradona bug this week? You have to wonder if the print and broadcast coverage has been out of kilter with wider mankind, certainly on the basis of last night’s crowd. Hampden revealed quite a few empty seats as an audience of just 32,492 gathered, so clearly, not everyone has been captivated by Maradona’s presence.

Having said that, for the time-honoured reasons rooted in any English downfall, the Argentina coach got a warm Hampden welcome from the locals, while his old foe, Butcher, scowled across from the other dugout. But this entire sideshow proved to be the least of Scotland’s worries.

This match was supposed to be a morale-building exercise for the looming – and ominous – World Cup qualifier against Holland in March, but the worry was that, facing such opponents, Scotland might spend the night chasing shadows and have their confidence battered instead of restored. In that context, the game could hardly have had a more trauma-tising opening for Burley’s men.

Save for one sprint down the left by Kris Commons, Scotland could hardly get a purchase on the ball before Argentina took the lead after eight minutes. And it was all highly clinical stuff, with Carlos Tévez driving into Allan McGregor’s area before laying the ball off for Jonas Gutiérrez, whose deft pass to Maxi RodrÍguez left the Atlético Madrid player six yards out and ramming his shot past the Scotland goalkeeper.

A minor anxiety for Burley had been in accommodating both Kirk Broadfoot and Alan Hutton, with the Tottenham Hotspur player back and fit again. In a brazen outburst, Broadfoot had declared he did not deserve to be dropped on his recent form, so the Scotland manager simply shunted him over to left-back, allowing Hutton his usual right-back role. With Paul Hartley and Barry Ferguson driving Scotland on, the home side slowly but surely clawed their way into the game.

James McFadden had a shot deflected over, and then Stephen McManus watched a header sail just over. Scotland then had the temerity to win a series of corners which, while not exactly causing Argentina duress, nonetheless at least revealed the home side as making a game of it.

When Commons’s free kick just eluded Broadfoot at the back post, a few at Hampden began to believe that Burley’s men might find an equaliser.

Four minutes before half-time, McFadden robbed Martin Demichelis but had his shot stopped by Juan Pablo Carrizo – a further, if rare, Scotland opportunity. This, however, was all quite a hard shift for Scotland, with Argentina’s darting runs and neat exchange of passes proving more than a handful.

Argentina expressed a bit of a gripe about Scotland’s tackling, but it didn’t seem anything overly rough. Gary Caldwell was booked for a hack on Tévez, and then Gabriel Heinze complained about substitute Lee Miller’s challenge, which was followed by Emil-iano Papa disintegrating to the ground after Scott Brown had caught him.

Poor Papa immediately attracted the derision of the Hampden crowd, who feel they know a soft touch when they see one. Later, Argentina complained about some of their treatment, but it seemed tame stuff.

- Diego Maradona thought about leaving the Argentina team camp before his coaching debut after his daughter, Giannina, reported pregnancy complications in Spain. Maradona said he didn’t travel to Madrid because his daughter asked him to remain with the team in Glasgow. “I’ve got a lump in the heart. I want to run to see her, but I knew that she wanted me to stay,” Maradona said. Sergio Agüero, the Argentina forward, left the team on Tuesday to see Giannina, his girlfriend, who is six months pregnant with his son.

Taken from timesonline.co.uk