SCOTLAND finished off their World Cup qualifying campaign with a flourish last night as they handsomely swept Slovenia aside in Celje to finish third in group five. Walter Smith’s players atoned for the disappointment of the defeat by Belarus last weekend, which cost them their ambitions of going to the play-offs. Indeed, the emphatic nature of the way Scotland built upon the early lead supplied by Darren Fletcher will offer Smith cause to wonder at what might have been.
James McFadden added an audacious goal just after half-time and then Paul Hartley scored his first goal for his country with eight minutes left. The midfield player finished off a sumptuous passing move by hitting a dipping right-foot shot into the roof of the net to ensure that Scotland are able to keep their status when they move on to their next objective, the European Championships.
The result keeps Smith’s side in the fourth pot of seeds when the draw for Euro 2008 is made in January. The manner — in stark contrast to the poverty under his predecessor, Berti Vogts — offers hope for progress to those finals.
The diversity of the Slovenian squad was underlined by the fact that it was drawn from 14 different foreign leagues. These did not just include the normal destinations, such as France and neighbouring Austria, but more exotic locations such as South Korea and Israel.
If Scotland’s failure to reach the World Cup finals had been keenly felt, the Slovenian public was possibly less perturbed by not securing a place in a third successive finals. This small country, which only achieved independence in 1991, is more enthusiastic about skiing.
That was reflected by the gathering in the Petrol Arena in Celje. Just 24 hours before kick-off, the Slovenian FA had sold only 1,200 tickets and the locals seemed to be outnumbered by the 2,000 Scotland fans.
Smith, though, was treating this final fixture with serious intent. The manager had brought in Nigel Quashie, McFadden and Andy Webster, who all missed the defeat against Belarus last Saturday, to replace the suspended captain, Barry Ferguson, and the injured pair of Lee McCulloch and Ian Murray.
Smith’s anger and bemusement at his team’s anonymous first-half display at Hampden Park had consumed the thoughts of the manager and his players in the intervening four days and that was evident from the remarkable response he received as Scotland took the lead after just three minutes.
The goal came out of nowhere, as there seemed to be little threat as Graham Alexander rolled a pass from the left wing inside to Fletcher. The Manchester United midfield player took one touch to control the ball and in the absence of anyone closing him down, thrashed a fierce right-foot shot from 30 yards that flew high past Samir Handanovic, the goalkeeper, who was making his debut for Slovenia.
The Slovenians were visibly disturbed. Their normal fluency was surpassed by the Scots, who were moving the ball far more crisply and effectively in the opening 20 minutes. Fletcher was at the core of everything, as he proved with a fine piece of understanding with Hartley, whose low cross was met by McFadden at the near post, only for Matej Mavric to get a touch to deflect the ball away from goal.
Another Hartley corner picked out his Heart of Midlothian colleague, Webster, whose firm header was saved by Handanovic. It took Slovenia 27 minutes to fashion a chance of their own, when Aleksander Knavs met an inviting cross from Milenko Acimovic, but only found the sidenet.
When Slovenia forced a corner ten minutes later, the defending from Scotland was far more frenetic as they got bodies in the way of a series of shots that ricochetted around the edge of the box before Christian Dailly swiftly turned the situation on its head with one pass to Kenny Miller to launch a counterattack.
Slovenia were exposed with just one man, Knavs, to cope with three advancing Scots as Miller’s pass picked out McFadden for the Everton player to advance on Handanovic. Inexplicably, with just the goalkeeper to beat, McFadden shot wide of the target.
Acimovic had no such inaccuracy, as he soon conjured up a 35-yard free kick that was expertly touched over the bar by Craig Gordon.
However, Scotland reached the dressing-room at half-time with their advantage still intact and the sound of applause ringing in their ears from their travelling fans.
Smith felt confident enough in his side to introduce two new faces in the second half, with Gary Caldwell replacing Pressley and Garry O’Connor taking Miller’s attacking role.
That faith was rewarded as Scotland doubled their advantage after just two minutes. Quashie’s determination to win a high bouncing ball was crucial, before finding Fletcher who sought out McFadden on the far side of the box with his cross. McFadden atoned for his ghastly miss earlier by summoning up a sublime lob over Handanovic from 14 yards.
That lifted the decibel count from the Scotland supporters, and though Acimovic came close to pulling a goal back for the hosts when he thumped a venomous shot off the underside of the bar, Scotland maintained their shape and organisation.
Nastja Ceh’s inswinging 66th-minute corner ought to have been buried by Bostjan Cesar at the back post but the Slovenia defender’s lunge somehow diverted the ball over the bar from barely two yards out. When Ceh curled a free kick wide five minutes later, the Slovenia frustration became greater.
HOW THEY LINED UP IN PETROL ARENA
SLOVENIA (4-4-2): H Samir (Udinese) — M Mavric (Molde; sub: A Pecnik, SK Sigma Olomouc, 24min; sub: B Ilic, Domzale, 55), C Bostjan (Marseilles), A Zlogar (Enosis Neon), A Knavs (SV Austria Salzburg) — N Ceh (FK Austria Vienna), R Koren (Lillestrom), S Cimirotic (Incheon United), A Komac (CS Maritimo) — M Acimovic (Lille), A Rodic (Kayserispor; sub: E Siljak, Mouscron, 55). Substitutes not used: D Nemec (Domzale), S Filekovic (Mouscron), D Stefanovic (Domzale). Booked: Cesar, Rodic.
SCOTLAND (3-5-2): C Gordon (Heart of Midlothian) — A Webster (Heart of Midlothian), S Pressley (Heart of Midlothian; sub: G Caldwell, Hibernian, 46), D Weir (Everton) — C Dailly (West Ham United), D Fletcher (Manchester United), P Hartley (Heart of Midlothian), N Quashie (Southampton; sub: S Caldwell, Sunderland, 74), G Alexander (Preston North End) — K Miller(Wolverhampton Wanderers; sub: G O’Connor, Hibernian, 46), J McFadden (Everton). Substitutes not used: N Alexander (Cardiff City), N McCann (Southampton), C Beattie (Celtic), S Maloney (Celtic). Booked: Gordon.
Referee: R Temmink (Netherlands).
