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28 min: Good news, Hickey’s back up and is OK to continue. He is still feeling that shoulder gingerly, though.
27 min: Hickey dribbles infield from the right, before being shoved from behind by Fonville. He falls awkwardly on his left shoulder, and stays down awhile. Hampden falls silent; Hickey’s been so unfortunate with injuries. Not another, surely?
25 min: A drinks break. Everyone getting into the rhythm ahead of the World Cup.
23 min: Hickey curls a cross in from the right. The ball doesn’t quite drop to Hirst. Curaçao half-clear. McLean sends another ball in from the left. Hirst meets this one, heading powerfully towards the bottom right. Room gets down to claw the ball away.
21 min: That goal was brought to you by Chrysler automobiles. Hampden is sort of shocked. Not that shocked, though. We’ve been here before. “I told you, dog!” yelps James Humphries. “I warned you about the football gods, bro! I mean, after a certain point you just have to laugh, eh? (weeps into beer)”
19 min: Scotland nearly respond immediately, Hirst chasing Christie’s neat pass down the left channel into the box. Hirst tries to round Room on the outside, but the keeper touches the ball away to save the day for the visitors.
GOAL! Scotland 0-1 Curaçao (Chong 17)
The smallest nation ever to qualify for the World Cup take the lead! And in some style! Chong spins on the halfway line and takes off down the inside-right channel, leaving McKenna for dead, then sending Souttar off to the shops, dropping a shoulder to shift infield, and into the box. He creams a low drive into the bottom right, and well, this story is as old as time.
15 min: Gilmour creams a diagonal pass to Gannon-Doak on the right touchline. The crowd coo as the winger kills the ball stone dead, before tearing off down the wing. He can’t quite get the better of Fonville, who stays strong, but that was promising play from both Gilmour and Gannon-Doak. Hampden enjoyed it.
13 min: Now it’s Scotland’s turn to do some clipping, Gimour catching Juninho Bacuna on the edge of the Scottish D. But the referee waves play on. It’s all a bit scrappy at the moment, tell the truth.
11 min: Hickey threatens to burst down the right but is nudged over by Juninho Bacuna. The Bacuna brothers putting themselves about during these early exchanges.
9 min: Gilmour is clipped late in the centre circle by Curaçao captain Leandro Bacuna, and isn’t too happy about it. When play restarts, Scotland push forward, Christie teeing up Robertson, haring in from the left. Robertson hits a shot with the passion of a man who may be wondering whether he should have bided his time and outwaited Arne Slot. It’s a fierce skelp, but always heading wide right.
7 min: Juninho Bacuna dribbles into the Scotland box from the left, but Gilmour gets in the way, intercepting, dribbling back out of the box, and clearing. Neat play all round.
6 min: Shankland sends Gannon-Doak off down the right. He skedaddles away from Fonville and tries to float an ambitious effort across Room in the Curaçao goal and into the top left. Over it goes. That would certainly have been something, had it gone in.
4 min: Chong drops deep, pinging a clever diagonal down the left for Fonville to chase. Gannon-Doak is on point to cover and intercept. Good to see the Bournemouth winger back.
3 min: Christie is clipped by Gaari out on the left touchline. Robertson swings the free kick into the mixer. Hirst eyebrows the ball wide right, with Souttar better placed behind him. Decent delivery though.
2 min: A first touch for Hirst, who sends a simple pass straight out of play. Good to get the first groan of the afternoon out of the way early doors.
1 min: Curaçao are on the front foot immediately. Of course they are. Locadia presses down the left but can’t get the better of Hickey. Goal kick.
Scotland get the ball rolling. The Big Send-Off! “As soon as I saw that ‘big send-off’ bit I knew what was coming next,” writes James Humphries. “But jeezo man, you don’t need to provoke the football gods, surely?”
But first, the national anthem. “Well, somebody’s got to, haven’t they?” shrugs Simon McMahon. “Before reality bites, again.”
The teams are out! Scotland in blue, Curaçao in yellow. A fun atmosphere at Hampden. No Chrysler Avenger sponsorship. We’ll be off in a minute or three.
Steve Clarke talks to BBC Scotland. “First time in 28 years … a great story for Scotland but also a great story for Curaçao, so what a nice game to have … five of the more regular members of the squad won’t be here today … Ross Stewart felt something in his knee so there’s no point risking him … the ones on the pitch have plenty about them, so hopefully a good performance and a good result … a chance to be on the pitch, so show us what you can do … a good performance, no injuries, a win would be nice as well … we expect a tough game … they are a small nation but have players who have come through the Dutch system … they know how to play.”
Curaçao are not without star names themselves. Their captain Leandro Bacuna spent a decade in England, splitting his time between Aston Villa, Reading, Cardiff and Watford; his brother Juninho sandwiched a brief spell at Rangers with longer stints at Huddersfield and Birmingham. Defender Armando Obispo plays for Dutch champions PSV, while their attack consists of Jurgen Locadia, once of Brighton, and Sheffield United’s Tahith Chong.
Curaçao gaffer Dick Advocaat, formerly of Rangers, speaks to the BBC. “My family and myself had the best time in Scotland … the people are very kind … [today’s line-up] is the strongest side I can bring … it is important to see the way we play … we have a quite difficult group … the expectations are not that high … but without expectation you can still do something … most of my teams are well-organised … everyone knows what to do … I expect a good game from us.”
Scotland are resting their star man Scott McTominay this afternoon. Or has the Napoli icon been superseded in everyone’s affections by John McGinn, on account of his elegant exploits for Europa League winners Aston Villa? Either way, he’s been stood down too. Che Adams, Lewis Ferguson, Kieran Tierney and Ross Stewart are also putting their feet up after heavy end-of-season workloads. But that’s all for the greater good, according to Scotland coach Steve Clarke, who explains: “We’ve got players that haven’t played since the start of May … they need some minutes on the pitch … the modern game is pretty much a squad game anyway, but it’s going to be even more out there because of the extreme conditions … every match there’ll be 16 players going on the pitch at some stage.”
Curaçao have never beaten a European team. On the other hand, Scotland have failed to win any of their last six matches against nations from Concacaf, a dismal run that stretches back to a 4-1 victory over Trinidad and Tobago in 2004. So in that respect, this one’s firmly in the balance. Here, while we’re on the subject, Scotland were the recipient of mucho pelters when they lost to Costa Rica at Italia 90, but let’s be fair, Juan Cayasso’s winner is one of the great under-appreciated goals in World Cup history. What a move! Hey, it’s been 36 years, we can smile about it now.
This match is being billed by the wise and highly respected mandarins of the SFA as “The Big Send-Off”. We’ve been here before, of course. Though if a Big Send-Off is once again a precursor to, and karmic guarantee of, a performance like this …
… you’d deal on it, no? I’d take it in a heartbeat. Haiti and Morocco might be tough watches, but it’ll be worth going through the mill to see what Ben Gannon-Doak does to Brazil.
The teams
Scotland: Gordon, Hickey, Souttar, McKenna, Robertson, Doak, Gilmour, McLean, Christie, Shankland, Hirst.
Subs: Kelly, Gunn, Fletcher, Hanley, Graham, Dykes, Wilson, Hendry, Hyam, Patterson, Ralston, Curtis.
Curaçao: Room, Gaari, Bazoer, Obispo, Floranus, Leandro Bacuna, Comenencia, Fonville, Chong, Locadia, Juninho Bacuna.
Subs: Doornbusch, Bodak, Sambo, van Eijma, Roemeratoe, Antonisse, Hansen, Noslin, Gorre, Margaritha, Martha, Kastaneer, Kuwas, Brenet, Felida.
Preamble
Look, you’d think Scotland should do for Curaçao. But then …
… and you know how things go when we all get ahead of ourselves …
… and to be fair, Curaçao are ranked 82nd in the world, just 39 shy of the 43rd-ranked Scots. Also there’s the Dick Advocaat factor. It could be fun. It should be fun. Kick-off at Hampden Park is at 1pm BST. It’s on!
