Little gained by Scotland as Argentinians show they are a class apart

Scotland 0
Argentina 1

* Maxi Rodriguez 8

* Ewan Murray at Hampden Park

It is debatable whether or not this was money well spent by the Scottish FA. A reported figure of £800,000 brought Argentina and Diego Maradona to Glasgow; the visitors had rendered what can be a raucous venue at times about as noisy as a library before many fans had even taken their seats. This was worryingly straightforward for Argentina. Carlos Tevez tormented and teased the Scots; Sir Alex Ferguson would have been concerned by a first-half lunge by Gary Caldwell on his forward's left ankle but Tevez appeared to bear no lasting effects.

Scotland, albeit depleted, remain a footballing world away from Argentina. There will be far tougher tests to come for Maradona. In blunt terms this was a competitive non-event with little for the Scotland management team to glean in a positive sense. To add insult to injury, a confirmed crowd of less than 35,000 means the SFA will not have broken financially even on the event.

"It was a very good experience," said the Scotland manager, George Burley, obviously an eternal optimist. "In the first 15 minutes they overran us but after that we got amongst them."

The manager will not admit it but this was a match selected by people who don blazers rather than training ground apparel. Burley probably regarded the circus which had surrounded Maradona's arrival in Glasgow as something of a blessing. After all, it had deflected from Scotland's miserable home international record. The Scots had failed to record a victory in 11 outings at Hampden prior to last night; not in 12 years have they won a friendly in Glasgow.

It was soon apparent that Argentina would show little compassion. Javier Mascherano had already watched a 20-yard volley clawed away by Allan McGregor by the time Maxi Rodríguez sauntered through the home rearguard and finished from close range. The build-up passing from Tevez and Jonás Gutiérrez was typically exquisite, sufficiently so to pull Kirk Broadfoot fatally out of position and expose the Scotland central defence.

Within 12 minutes the Tartan Army were ironically hailing even a brief sequence of passes between Burley's players. Scotland's best hope, it seemed, was either floodlight failure and match abandonment or an unlikely loss of interest from the South Americans. There was neither.

Burley had called on the services of his captain, Barry Ferguson, for the first time after a succession of injuries stalled the midfielder's international career. Like his team-mates, Ferguson took half an hour to catch his breath; this was hardly a welcoming environment for a player who has played only two full games this season. The 30-year-old lasted 59 minutes, by which time he had probably chased quite enough shadows for one night.

Tevez, the outstanding performer, was the subject of a series of heavy tackles from the Scottish players, with Caldwell booked for his illegal attempts at halting the former West Ham United striker. It was, indeed, a minor surprise that Tevez appeared at all for the second half and James McFadden was the next to clatter him, a matter which would surely have had a certain Scot in the Lancashire area again bemoaning the inconvenience of international friendly matches. Yet Tevez remained unbowed, continuing with his moments of brilliance until full-time.

Scotland enjoyed their most effective spell of the match as the second period opened but without forcing Juan Carrizo into anything resembling meaningful action. Niggling fouls, diving and needle had also become the order of the day before Tevez should have settled matters, driving through the Scotland defence and sending a shot high on the hour mark.

The ineffectual McFadden followed his captain down the tunnel shortly after, Burley at least attempting to breathe life into a stagnant contest by re-arranging his forward players. Unlike their opponents, though, Scotland never looked a viable threat when crossing the half-way line.

Burley has four months to contemplate his next move. A World Cup qualifier in Amsterdam is hardly a comforting prospect this morning. His desire to employ an attacking style is admirable, yet it remains obvious he lacks the required talent. It must be hoped that by March 28 Scotland's fans will have regained their appetite for watching a side in navy blue.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer