Spain 1, Scotland 1

Scotland find light amid the darkness

GLENN GIBBONS
 

EVEN the blackness that enveloped the Levante Stadium last night - the result of a power failure occasioned by adverse weather conditions - could not obscure the merit of a performance by Scotland that had promised to be more fulfilling than any during Berti Vogts’s two-and-a-half years as manager.

By the time the referee, Stephane Bré of France, decided that the friendly in Valencia should be abandoned after 59 minutes, the Scots had looked clearly the superior side for most of that time, taking the lead through a marginally deflected James McFadden free kick (by the head of Ruben Baraja) and had been pulled back only by a penalty kick from substitute Raul just two minutes before the lights failed and the stadium was drenched in torrential rain.

With the thunder-and-lightning storm that had attacked the city the previous night paying a return visit, the cessation of play was inevitable. Vogts would have been entitled to claim that the elements had denied him a long-awaited opportunity to do some crowing.

Operating a 4-1-4-1 system that had Jackie McNamara in the "holding" role in midfield and McFadden behind Stevie Crawford in attack, the Scots appeared more organised and self-assured than they have in years. Considering the quality of their opponents, it was a glowing testimony to the resilience of players such as Malky Mackay, Gary Caldwell, Gary Naysmith and Andy Webster in defence and the self-certainty of a midfield that also included Barry Ferguson, Darren Fletcher and Nigel Quashie that they should restrict the Spaniards to only one genuine scoring opportunity before their equaliser.

The change in application and quality since Scotland’s last outing - the 3-0 defeat by Hungary in a friendly last month - was dramatic, and Vogts was understandably satisfied with both the performance and the result.

"The same thing happened to me with Germany in the 1974 World Cup against Poland," said the coach, referring to the floodlight failure. "Tonight, as then, we could not have played on. But in the 60 minutes we had we did very well. We were very well organised and could have scored more goals, but Stevie Crawford missed a couple of chances.

"The organisation came from the work we did in training. We had outstanding players in every department but my captain (Barry Ferguson) was very strong. Even although the match was not completed we can take great confidence from what we did; 1-1 against Spain is excellent. It was a real Scottish performance, full of spirit and commitment."

By the simple fact of taking the lead, the Scots had already done enough to demonstrate that, improbable as it may seem, Luis Aragones may have even more serious problems than Vogts. The Spanish coach had spent the preceding 17 minutes watching his players make and retain huge territorial gains, without the inventiveness and serious threat in forward areas that would have shown them to be a proper team.

Indeed, it would have brought immense satisfaction to the little German to observe his own players justify his emphasis on the need for effective organisation, a willingness to expend energy in staying close to opponents to prevent their making mischief and an unmissable refusal to be intimidated by the reputations of the home players.

During that hardly credible period, Scotland looked not only more coherent, composed and compact than they have in Vogts’ entire time as manager, but were, in that regard, clearly superior to opponents who appeared convinced of their own right to a comfortable victory without actually earning it.

Astonishingly, in fact, it was only some slipshod finishing from Crawford that prevented the visitors from taking a three-goal lead before half-time. The Plymouth striker was first released through the middle on a pass from Fletcher that left him with only Iker Casillas to beat.

Crawford drove the ball straight at the goalkeeper. It may have been the shock of enjoying a similar opportunity - again from a Fletcher flick - that caused him to repeat the miss later, although this time Casillas deserves at least some credit for the speed with which he arrived to block the shot just a few feet from the striker.

The one that did give the Scots their advantage had also followed a moment, literally seconds before, when they were denied only by the strategically-placed Carles Puyol on the Spanish goal line. Ferguson’s free kick from the left curled towards the corner, eluding all attempts at a deflection or an interception and would have crossed the line but for the Barcelona defender’s clearance.

Having escaped that brush with a serious set-back, the home side appeared dumbfounded when the same thing happened again - this time with the ultimate punishment - just a few seconds later. On this occasion, it was McFadden who took the free kick, left-footed, from out on the right.

There appeared to be little doubt that his wickedly turning drive would have found the far corner of the net even without the merest touch off the head of the straining Baraja. The Spanish captain, a local man who plays for Barcelona, would have been no more surprised than the 1,200 or so fans who had travelled to support Scotland.

The performance of the Scots during those first 45 minutes merited the little good fortune they appeared to enjoy when Mackay - the big Norwich defender who had been an immovable obstruction at the heart of defence - had a challenge on Jose Antonio Reyes that many referees might have judged to be a penalty kick.

There was, however, nothing fortunate about the miss perpetrated by Asier del Horno on the only other occasion on which the home side came close enough to Craig Gordon to present an authentic menace. It was simply dreadful execution when del Horno, free of a challenge, met a free kick from Reyes on the right and sent his header several yards too high.

Faced with a shameful start to his new job - he replaced Inaki Saez in the wake of Spain’s poor performance at Euro 2004 - Aragones predictably removed Baraja, Torres and Tamudo and replaced them with some heavy artillery in Juan Carlos Valeron, Raul and Vicente. Vogts, as promised, allowed McFadden to complete only one half, replacing him with Stephen Pearson.

It was the Spaniard’s tinkering that proved to be the more productive, Raul assisting Reyes in winning the penalty kick from which the equaliser was scored. Reyes released the Real Madrid striker with a precise chip to the right side of the box that lured Gordon from his line before the young goalkeeper hesitated and did not see his prospective challenge through.

Raul held the ball until Reyes moved towards the near post and the low cross teased McNamara and Webster into a clumsy joint challenge that took the Arsenal man down. Raul converted with a low drive to the left of Gordon that was a study in self-belief.

Spain: Casillas; Rekarte, Puyol, Marchena (Helguera 58), Del Horno; Joaquin, Xabi Alonso, Baraja (Valeron 46), Torres (Raul 46); Reyes; Tamudo (Vicente 46). Subs not used: Canizares, Salgado, Romero, Morientes, Victor, Juanito.

Scotland: Gordon; Caldwell, Webster, Mackay, Naysmith; McNamara; Fletcher (Cameron 58), Ferguson, Quashie; McFadden (Pearson 46); Crawford (Miller 58). Subs not used: Shearer, Thompson, Dickov, McNamaee, Holt, Kyle