Future doesn't look bright

RONNIE ESPLIN IN MANNHEIM

UNDER the watchful eye of new national coach Walter Smith, who sat in the stand beside his predecessor Berti Vogts, the Scotland Future team were well well-beaten by their German counterparts in a one-sided Future Cup match last night.

A first-half double by striker Benjamin Auer gave the home side a comfortable interval lead before midfielder Thorben Marx’s strike after the break simply confirmed the Germans’ superiority.

Rainer Bonhof, the under-21 coach, and Tommy Burns, who Smith hopes to confirm as his assistant, took charge of the team and got off to a disastrous start when they fell behind after only five minutes.

Hearts midfielder Paul Hartley was dispossessed by Marco Engelhardt, who quickly played in Auer and the German’s low drive 16 yards gave Dundee goalkeeper Derek Soutar no chance.

Scotland’s misery was compounded in the 19th minute when the home side doubled their lead with a goal which owed much to the away team’s own inefficiencies.

The defence were caught napping when Albert Streit set up Auer, who still had a bit to do from an acute angle but the confident German lashed a volley into the far corner of the net. The visitors tried to battle back, but even that early in the game it was clear that hey had an uphill task.

In the 26th minute Scotland might have given themselves a lifeline if Brighton defender Adam Virgo’s header from a Jamie Smith corner had been more accurate rather than drifting wide. In the 37th minute Zander Diamond got his head on to another Smith corner but his effort went wide.

Scotland needed to react positively after the interval, but there was only five minutes played in the second half when they lost a third goal.

Diamond made a hash of his clearance and the ball landed at the feet of Marx, who wasted no time in lashing his shot from the edge of the box past Scotland substitute goalkeeper Allan McGregor, a half-time replacement for Soutar.

The Germans by now were in total control with their speed of thought as dangerous to the sluggish Scots as their obvious superior technique. To their credit Scotland kept fighting but the home side were a class apart and in the 65th minute Streit almost found substitute Patrick Helmes with a dangerous in-swinging cross. Ten minutes later the Scots were caught on the counter-attack by the slick-moving Germans, who should have made it 4-0. Streit sprung from the halfway line and only had McGregor to beat, but this time the German’s shot from 14 yards struck the goalkeeper’s legs and bounced to safety. In the 87th minute Helmes had the ball in the net from a Streit free-kick, but this time the goal was ruled out for offside.

Germany Future: Jentzsch, Schroter, Achenbach, Langkamp, Madlung, Marx, Streit, Broich, Auer, Engelhardt, Hanke. Subs: Enke, Friedrich, Schlicke, Rolfes, Helmes.

Scotland Future: Soutar, Diamond, McNaughton, Virgo, Malcolm, Wilson, Hartley, O’Connor, Smith, Murray, McGregor. Subs: Corrigan, Nicholson, McDonald, Hammell, Lynch.

Referee: L Paniashvili (Georgia).