Attendance 20,952
Scotland went down 1-3 to Switzerland at Hampden
tonight in a Friendly International that proved to be
a total let-down for the 20,952 spectators who paid
good money to attend on a bitterly cold evening.
It is now all of ten years since the Scots last won a
non-competitive fixture in Mount Florida – yet there
was almost the perfect start inside seven minutes when
Jamie McFadden’s twenty-yard free-kick shaved the
side-netting.
The opening goal when it arrived came at the other end
however – Tranquillo Barnetta’s volley from a Ricardo
Cabanas cross beating Craig Gordon in 21 minutes.
Six minutes later Andy Webster headed wide from a
Darren Fletcher corner as Scotland sought equality –
but by half-time it was 2-0 when Daniel Gygax headed
home a Barnetta cross in forty minutes.
There had been little to excite the ‘Tartan Army’
during the first 45 minutes – yet nine minutes after
the restart the deficit was halved when Kenny Miller
streaked away from a Gary Teale through-ball to rifle
the ball home.
Suddenly the Scots, who had made three changes at the
interval, were re-invigorated, and the scores might
have been tied on the hour when substitute Steven
Caldwell saw his header from a Fletcher free-kick
touched over by Swiss replacement goalkeeper Fabio
Coltorti.
One of those three changes at half-time involved the
replacement of Scotland Captain Barry Ferguson, who
should never have been playing in the first place,
given that he has now admitted to having played all
season with an ankle injury – a handicap that has been
all too obvious to all Light Blue followers throughout
this abysmal campaign.
The visitors sealed their win however in 68 minutes
when Cabanas played a one-two with Marco Streller
before rifling the ball into the roof of the net from
a narrow angle.
The game was won and lost – and Switzerland might have
made it 4-1 in 85 minutes when Barnetta saw his
25-yard drive parried by substitute goalkeeper Neil
Alexander.
Scotland Manager Walter Smith was brutally honest in
his assessment of the game:
“I am disappointed with the result and the
performance. We can take few positives. We have
acquitted ourselves much better in competitive games.”
SCOTLAND Gordon (Hearts) [N. Alexander (Cardiff City)
45]; Dailly (West Ham United), G. Alexander (Preston
North End); Weir (Everton) [S. Caldwell (Sunderland)
45], Webster Hearts), Ferguson (Rangers) [Teale (Wigan
Athletic) 45]; Fletcher (Manchester United), G.
Caldwell (Hibernian), Miller (Wolverhampton
Wanderers), Quashie (West Bromwich Albion), McFadden
(Everton)
UNUSED SUBS Naysmith (Everton), Anderson (Aberdeen),
Maloney (Celtic), Riordan (Hibernian), McCulloch
(Wigan Athletic), Murray (Rangers), Marshall (Celtic)
SWITZERLAND Zuberbuhler (Basle) [Coltorti
(Grasshoppers) 45]; Degen (Borussia Dortmund),
Senderos (Arsenal) [Smiljanic (Basle) 72], Grichting
(Auxerre) [Djourou (Arsenal) 45], Behrami (Lazio);
Cabanas (Koln), Vogel (AC Milan) [Dzemaili (Zurich)
80], Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen), Wicky (Hamburg)
[Vonlanthen (NAC Breda) 45]; Streller (Koln)
[Lustrinelli (Sparta Prague) 72], Gygax (Lille)
UNUSED SUBS Muller (Olympique Lyon)
REFEREE Bruno Coue (France)