Scotland player ratings vs Curacao: 8/10 ex-Hearts 'predator' caps off memorable week with brace in World Cup send-off

It’s been a long, long wait but the countdown to next month’s World Cup Finals is almost over for Scotland. Steve Clarke’s side will jet off to North America tomorrow in high spirits after this 4-1 warm-up win over 10-man Curacao.

Qualification was achieved last November. It feels like a lifetime ago now. After narrow friendly defeats to Japan and Ivory Coast in March, this was all about getting minutes into the legs of players who haven’t had much game time of late and building some much-needed momentum ahead of travelling across the Atlantic.

Standing in their way, a Curacao team led by former Rangers manager Dick Advocaat who was returning to Glasgow looking to spoil the Scots’ celebratory leaving bash. The 78-year-old will create history this summer by becoming the oldest coach to manage at a World Cup in the tournament’s 96-year history, having guided the tiny Caribbean Island nation to a historic first-ever qualification.

Head coach Clarke - inducted into the Scottish football Hall of Fame on Friday less than 24 hours after signing a four-year contract extension through until 2030 to remain in the Hampden hotseat - named about as strong a starting XI as was available to him.

He was without five late arrivals to the squad in Kieran Tierney, Lewis Ferguson, Scott McTominay, Che Adams and newly-crowned European champion John McGinn, who were all afforded an extended break following their recent involvement in various end-of-season cup and domestic fixtures.

The Scotland boss had elected to exercise caution given the challenges that lie ahead. He began the week with only 14 players in training before another seven were “drip fed” into the squad on Thursday. Clarke’s need to supplement numbers saw him invite four youngsters to join the group. Tyler Fletcher of Manchester United, Dundee’s Luke Graham and Hearts pair James Wilson and goalkeeper Liam McFarlane were all involved, while Dunfermline striker Andrew Tod was also drafted in at short notice. Three were named on the bench.

There were starts for fit-again Craig Gordon between the sticks, Aaron Hickey at right-back, Ben Gannon-Doak on the right flank and new Rangers signing Lawrence Shankland handed just a fifth start for his country, linking up with George Hirst in attack.

Veteran goalkeeper Gordon, who last played for Hearts in a 2-2 draw against Celtic back in January, had not long recovered from a troublesome shoulder injury, while Gannon-Doak had only played a total of 52 minutes for AFC Bournemouth since hobbling off injured when Scotland sealed World Cup qualification against Denmark.

Curacao would give Clarke and his players a good indication about what they can expect when facing fellow CONCACAF nation Haiti in their Group C opener in Boston on June 14. With a population similar to Dundee of just over 150,000, the minnows only became a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 2010, following the dissolution of the Dutch Antilles.

Advocaat warned Scotland “to be careful” in his pre-match media conference on Friday as he rekindled memories of past glories on visits to Mount Florida during his time in charge at Ibrox.

“A good performance, no injuries and hopefully a win,” was Clarke’s main objective, but would he get his wish? Partly. The national stadium was awash with colour before kick-off as a crowd of just under 45,000 turned out in force to send Scotland on their way. A carnival atmosphere could be felt among the stands, particularly from those housed in the away end.

With several players eager to impress, the hosts started brightly. Skipper Andy Robertson was first to try his luck from distance after being teed up by Ryan Christie, but the recently departed Liverpool full-back whistled a powerful effort wide of the target.

Backed by around 700 travelling fans, the extremely vocal Curacao contingent were certainly making themselves heard. Their team responded emphatically as Sheffield United attacker Tahith Chong fired the visitors in front with a brilliant solo effort after 17 minutes.

With Scott McKenna caught in no-mans land on the halfway line, Chong - sporting a flashy curled haircut similar to Colombian great Carlos Valderrama - took an excellent first touch to control a high ball and take it away from the Scotland defender before driving forward at speed and drilling a shot beyond the stranded Gordon.

Scotland had their moments. Hirst nodded straight at the visiting keeper after connecting with Kenny McLean’s floated delivery before Gannon-Doak had a tame effort comfortably gathered by Eloy Room.

Then came a moment of controversy. Seconds after Chong was left seething by the referee’s decision not to award a foul for a tussle with Hickey, his team-mate Jurgen Locadia caught the Brentford defender with a needless flailing elbow. Both players were booked, before VAR intervened and quickly upgraded Locadia’s silly challenge to a red card by the Georgian referee upon review of the incident.

Clarke was then left facing a sweat over one of his key midfielders and took no chances by deciding to withdraw Napoli’s Billy Gilmour on the stroke of half-time after he went to ground in some discomfort holding his knee. Following a period of treatment, Gilmour managed to get back on his feet without too much assistance before hobbling straight down the tunnel. 19-year-old Findlay Curtis was brought on as his replacement, earning only his second cap.

The Rangers teenager made an instant impact. Within seconds of entering the fray, McLean’s deflected pass into the penalty area found Curtis, whose angled low strike flashed through the legs of a defender and past the outstretched Room into the far corner of the net for his first international goal.

Curtis’ equaliser had salvaged what threatened to be a horror first-half for the home side. Up until that point, Curacao had looked fairly comfortable in possession before going down to ten men.

Lacking ideas and inspiration in attack, Clarke made a raft of changes for the second half. Five in total as Grant Hanley, Dom Hyam, Nathan Patterson, Lyndon Dykes, and Tyler Fletcher - son of former Scotland captain Darren - were all introduced.

Those alterations proceeded to work the oracle. A neat interchange between Christie and Shankland forced the keeper into making a smart save within three minutes of the restart. From then on, Scotland were back in the ascendency and utilising their man advantage.

Shankland rounded off a neatly-worked short corner routine involving McLean and Christie again to fire the hosts in front with a superb first-time finish on 59 minutes to serve up a timely reminder of what he is capable of.

He doubled his tally just four minutes later with another instinctive finish after being picked out by a tremendous Lyndon Dykes pass. Shankland drove low across Room, with the ball striking the base of the post on route to finding the back of the net. It capped off a memorable week for the 30-year-old after completing his transfer along the M8 to Rangers on Tuesday.

Another flurry of subs followed with Liam Kelly taking over the gloves, and Anthony Ralston and James Wilson both given late run-outs. Kelly had to look lively straight away, beating a fierce Tyrese Noslin strike away to safety.

But Scotland made sure they would be departing for the US on the back of a welcome victory after the lively Curtis was clipped on the by-line inside the penalty area by Jurien Gaari to earn his side a late spot-kick. Christie stepped up and made no mistake, firing straight down the middle.

Clarke’s men were hungry for more as the clock ticked down. Dykes forced Room into a smart fingertip save after collecting Patterson’s low cross before a 35-yard McLean thunderbolt was expertly saved as Scotland prepare to head off to the states in buoyant mood. Tougher tests await...