EPL International Update: Scotland Draw as England Fail

George Burley took charge of Scotland for the first time tonight after taking over the reins from Alex McLeish. 

McLeish resigned to join to Birmingham City after Scotland’s last Euro Championship qualifier against Italy. The 2-1 loss at Hampden ended the Scots Euro 2008 hopes but the campaign was seen as a turning point for the now highly rated young squad. 

Croatia came into this one looking for a tough warm up game after ousting England and qualifying for Euro 2008. They were aiming to dispel rumors that the loss of Arsenal striker Eduardo Da Silva would derail their Euro 2008 hopes. 

Scotland were without seven key players including captain Barry Ferguson and star striker James McFadden. It was however a chance for a few players to prove a point or two. 

One of those players was Hibernian’s Steven Fletcher who made his debut after being named in the starting eleven. He couldn’t have asked for a better 21st birthday present. 

The teams had met twice previously, with both games ending in draws.

 As the anthems rang out at Hampden, I couldn’t help but hope Scotland would pick up where they left off and punch well above their weight! 

Croatia were the first to score with a goal that came completely out of nothing. The Scots keeper Craig Gordon was deceived by a quick thinking Niko Kranjcar effort. 

Scotland responded well to the early setback and set out to get a foot hold in the game. The Croatian midfielder impressed me all night with some great football.

Kranjcar and Luka Modric had impressed early on as they dominated the first half an hour. The Scots however are not a team that give up and equalized through Kenny Miller in the 31st minute. The Derby County striker smashed home his 11th international goal after a good pass from debutant Fletcher. 

Miller continued to look threatening after the break, showing great energy. Scotland however struggled to replicate his energy as the game wore on. 

Croatia dominated the middle of the second half but it was Scotland who nearly snatched it through Kris Boyd.

Alan Hutton and Darren Fletcher have been in fine form tonight and were by far Scotland’s best players. 

Modric is my man of the match but it was Scotland who impressed me most with their key players missing, one better than England after all. Scotland 1, Croatia 1. 

In other games England struggled in France, going down 1-0. Frank Ribery scored the goal with a first half penalty. England made Sven Goran Eriksson scale substitutions but to little positive effect. 

Austria shocked a talented Dutch side by taking a 3-0 lead. A goal from Ivan Ivanschitz and two goals from Sebastien Prodl gave the Austrians a comfortable lead. Holland replied through Klaas Huntelaar and Johnny Heitinga before equalizing through Celtic star Jan Vennegoor Of Hesselink.  

The Dutch completed and amazing recovery when Huntelaar bagged his second of the night! 

Denmark drew 1-1 with the Czech Republic. Nicklas Bendtner opened the scoring but the Danes were pegged back by a Jan Koller goal just before halftime. 

African Nations Cup Champions Egypt crashed back down to reality with a 2-0 defeat at home to Argentina. 

Wales chose an easier friendly than most and won 2-0 thanks to a Freddy Eastwood double in Luxembourg. 

David Healy kept up his great international scoring record against Georgia. The Fulham striker scored for his country and for Georgia. Sunderland target Kyle Lafferty scored twice with the Georgians returning the own goal favor in a 4-1 win. 

The USA won 3-0 in Poland thanks to goals from Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu and Eddie Lewis. 

A few more results included Portugal 1-2 Greece, Romania 3-0 Russia, South Africa 3-0 Paraguay, Sweden 0-1 Brazil and Switzerland 0-4 Germany. 

A great night of international football, come on Scotland!