Another painful mugging

SCOTLAND HAVE been beaten up worse than this in Amsterdam but that didn't make anyone feel better around the place last night. They were battered yet again in a joyless night that did nothing for their fading prospects of reaching next year's World Cup finals. Much now rests on the home game against Iceland on Wednesday. Ideally this going over would be shaken off and forgotten, but when Scotland flew home last night they didn't take much with them by way of morale.

They played sensibly and grafted tirelessly, but they conceded frustrating, cheap goals. Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Robin van Persie scored with bread-and-butter headers from routine crosses in the first half then Christophe Berra conceded a penalty with a rash challenge and Dirk Kuyt scored again. That came a minute after Gary Caldwell had the ball in the net only for it to be inexplicably disallowed. There were plenty willing to embrace the idea that pulling it back to 2-1 would have meant a different night entirely.

There was no shame in a makeshift Scotland team being outclassed, but the lack of goals in the side is becoming a grave flaw and Kenny Miller squandered a fine chance in the first half. Burley came promising attacking football, but Scotland have scored in only one of their last six matches. That was against Iceland, at least.

Long before a ball was kicked it had been easy to feel enormous sympathy for Burley. The Amsterdam ArenA wasn't the place to put out a side without James McFadden, Alan Hutton, Craig Gordon, Stephen McManus and Kris Commons. The team he picked was shot through with inexperience or rustiness at international level. Ross McCormack and Christophe Berra were starting their first internationals and Allan McGregor his first competitive one. Until last night Gary Teale had not started a Scotland game for 18 months. Five of the team were drawn from the Championship. It was a surprise that someone playing regularly in the English Premier League, James Morrison, stayed on the bench until the final minutes.

It was a makeshift, threadbare group to send out on to the killing fields of Amsterdam, although the fear of a repeat of 2003 was always exaggerated.

For all the dizzying array of attacking players Holland had not scored six, nor even five, in any game since Berti Vogts' naive management was exposed in the play-off for Euro 2004. Vogts went 4-4-2 and took the game to Dutch. Burley was canny. The shape was 4-1-4-1, with Scott Brown in front of the back four and Miller alone up front, with McCormack supporting from the right and Teale the left.

Holland declared a snag of their own when their outstanding playmaker, Wesley Sneijder of Real Madrid, was named only as a substitute. The Dutch made do without him. With another pair from Real, Robben and Huntelaar, along with Arsenal's van Persie and Dirk Kuyt of Liverpool, they weren't short of football aristocracy.

The ArenA was bouncing, helped along by 8,000 Scots who were just as up for it as the locals. At first, Scotland had competed well. They snapped into tackles, were right up the backs of the Dutch forwards and hassled and harried them into errors. It took a while for this Rolls-Royce of countries to find a rhythm and by the time they did Scotland should have had the opening goal. Darren Fletcher's ball sliced through the Dutch defence and put Miller through on the goalkeeper. Miller was hesitant, dithered, and Joris Mathijsen chased him down to make a saving tackle. It wouldn't be Scotland if there weren't one or two "if only" moments.

Now and again Robben, Kuyt or van Persie would turn on the afterburners and give the Scotland defenders a fright, but largely they were being contained. It was going well, but the crash was sudden. In the blink of an eye Holland were ahead with a goal which required no artistry or sophistication whatsoever.

Mark van Bommel's deep crossfield pass found Huntelaar between Graham Alexander and Gary Caldwell, running in to connect with a downward header which beat McGregor. Simple.

Worse followed. Play was petering out towards half-time when the Dutch suddenly thrashed in a second in stoppage time. It was even more maddening for Burley. Robben took a corner and van Persie run into the box to meet the delivery with a routine, elementary finish. Fletcher had failed to track van Persie's run, allowing him the freedom to leap and score while McGregor stayed rooted to his line.

At half-time the priority changed. It wasn't about containment and counter-punching any more, it was damage limitation. Scotland worked tirelessly but there wasn't the same aggression and certainty in their tackling.

Robben twice threatened to score the third but the honour fell to Kuyt with the penalty after Berra chopped down Huntelaar.

Weeks ago the SFA had been anxious when a suspect French referee, Laurent Duhamel, was given this game. When he blew the final whistle, to end it, they ought to have thanked him for an act of mercy.

Player ratings by Darryl Broadfoot

NETHERLANDS
Maarten Stekelenburg: Has had busier nights on the Ajax bench. May have lost his place under Marco van Basten but Scotland were given no encouragement to test his shoogliness. N/A
Gregory van der Wiel: Yes, yet another Dutch prodigy. Nineteen-year-old is an ArenA favourite and showed a voracious appetite for menace, while quelling the unpretentious threat of Gary Teale. 7
Andre Ooijer: Has endured a miserable season with Blackburn but given a refresher course in the concept of a clean sheet. Unconvincing on rare occasions he was called upon. 6
Joris Mathjisen: Saving tackle on a dallying Kenny Miller scuppered Scotland's only chance, the spoilsport. Spent the rest of the match as a sweeper with no mess to clean up. 7
Giovanni van Bronckhorst: Ross McCormack was in primary school when van Bronckhorst joined Rangers. The old master taught the young buck a valuable lesson in ball appreciation. 7
Mark van Bommel: The manager's brother-in-law, which always helps. So does the ability to engineer space in a midfield scrum and ping precise passes with contemptuous ease. A worthy assist for the opener and generally sublime. 9
Nigel de Jong: A token gesture of responsibility. Sat back and let the real talent strut their stuff. You don't get much for £15 million these days. Booked for crude tackle on Barry Ferguson. 7
Dirk Kuyt: Preferred to Wesley Sneijder, which was the closest thing to Scotland getting a break. Chipped away at Naysmith with a prodigious work rate and allowed by nice team-mates to take the penalty as a deserved reward. 7
Robin van Persie: Buzzed malevolently around the front line scaring the life out of Scotland. Delivered a tantalising cross passed-up by Huntelaar and scored all-too-easily from Robben's corner before the interval. 8
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar: Rubbish all season for Real Madrid then warms up for this by racking up eight goals in 11 games. Fluffed great chance from a Robben cross but redeemed himself with a handsome header. 7
Arjen Robben: An older looking 24-year-old than Benjamin Button. He has had a hard life, the poor soul. Showed far too often why he is one of the most exciting players on the planet. Heck, he was even spotted tackling in his own half. A perfect example of how the game should be played. 10
Subs: Wesley Sneijder (for van Persie 65): The last thing Scotland needed to see as they scrapped to ensure respectability. 3
Ibrahim Affelay (for Huntelaar 80): Welcome respite for ailing Scotland defence. 2
Stijn Schaars (for de Jong 80): Shurely shome mishtake. 2

SCOTLAND
Allan McGregor: Busier night than Red Light District cleaning contractors after Tartan Army invasion'. Made smart stop from Robben but helpless as ball fizzed past him twice. 6
Graeme Alexander: New Paul Weller hairstyle puts years on him. So did prolonged exposure to riotous Robben. Tried to give McCormack on-the-job training but overwhelmed and outnumbered. 5
Christophe Berra: Commanding start and survived early scare when slip allowed Robben free shot at goal Thereafter wondered why Holland appeared to have twice as many players as Scotland. Competitive debut spoiled by needless penalty. 5
Gary Caldwell: Not his kind of surface, not his kind of opposition. Stoic and aggressive as ever but looked leaden-footed as Dutch forwards whooshed around him. Denied a goal from McCormack corner by eagle-eyed referee. 5
Gary Naysmith: Had to compensate for lack of height and pace against van Persie by defending deep, which brought fresh problems in the shape of Dirk Kuyt. 5 Scott Brown: If only he could pass the ball accurately, he would not look out of place in such illustrious company. Inspired a heartening early procession past the half-way line but best work undone by infuriating sloppiness. Still Scotland's best hope. 7
Ross McCormack: One of Burley's standard surprises. Gave ball away cheaply, in some cases recklessly, and badly caught out by Robben before the opener. A harsh but invaluable lesson in ball retention and concentration at this level. 5
Barry Ferguson: Pumped-up as though out to prove to himself he can still cut it against the best. Started briskly enough but unable to stem the flow towards McGregor. Tried commendably to drive his team forward in the second half. 6
Darren Fletcher: How he could have done with Ronaldo, Scholes and Giggs, or a baseball bat. A disheartening night at the coal face for one of Scotland's few genuine class acts. 6
Gary Teale: Ticked all the boxes required for the buffer role - tall, quick and durable - but unable to get past van der Wiel to make any tangible contribution. Fared little better when he switched sides with McCormack. 5
Kenny Miller: Touches at premium, which perhaps explains why he took three needless ones with the goal gaping after only 10 minutes. Extra mark for unstinting effort in the Forrest Gump role. 6
Subs: Steven Fletcher (for Miller 71): Spent five minutes studying Terry Butcher's clipboard. Presumably instructions more in-depth than: Just run about and try to get a kick, son' 3
Alan Hutton (for Alexander 74): Welcome (right) back 3
James Morrison (for Teale 85): Sang for his supper 2

Taken from the Sunday Herald