Scotland 2 Spain 3: Scottish goals but no glory as world champions win Hampden thriller

By MICHAEL WALKER

Record breaker: David Villa eclipsed Raul as Spain's highest all-time goal scorer with this penalty


Scotland lost a football match last night and with it perhaps the chance to reach the Euro 2012 finals, but in coming back from 2-0 down against world champions Spain, Scotland regained respect, both for themselves and from others.

At 2-2 Hampden Park was literally bouncing. All the 4-6-0 furore from last Friday in Prague was lost in one of those breathless Hampden affairs that pulsated from kick-off. The noise was fantastic, the contest true and some of Spain’s football exquisite.


On a night when David Villa equalled Raul’s goalscoring record for Spain it says much that it was only one of the headlines.


Luck of the Scottish: Kenny Miller (right) celebrates Spanish defender Gerard Pique's own goal


Villa, The Kid as he is known in his native Asturia, opened the scoring with a 44th minute penalty. It was his 44th Spain goal in his 70th appearance. As a comparison it took Raul 102 caps to reach 44.


Privately Villa may dispute that. A strike against Poland before the World Cup was later registered as an own goal.

On Monday his manager Vicente Del Bosque talked about him breaking the record.
From 1960 and Real Madrid through to 2002 and Real again, the Spanish have relished the historical significance of this place and it seemed then as if this was an occasion that would again be all about Spaniards.

When Andres Iniesta steered in a smooth second ten minutes after the interval, that feeling was franked. Xabi Alonso was starring.

But Scotland manager Craig Levein had responded to the avalanche of criticism from Friday by returning Kenny Miller, in an attacking role, to the line-up. Miller was sparky from the first whistle and won a corner in 33 seconds.


No chance: Fernando Llorente (left) needed little invitation to slot home the winner


And three minutes after Iniesta had appeared to close the door on this Glaswegian drama, Miller fought for possession by drifting wide to the right, looked up and delivered a cross that his Rangers colleague Steven Naismith met with a flick of the head. Not even Iker Casillas could stop it.

Hampden dared to dream, but that was the context. Then Scotland captain Darren Fletcher and West Bromwich’s James Morrison altered Spain’s reality with a peach of a one-two on the edge of the visitors’ area.

Morrison was released and from the byline sent in a low cross aimed for blue shirts lurking in the six-yard box.

Spain were flustered, Carlos Puyol had been taken out by Fletcher’s pass and Gerard Pique, could only stub out a boot to send the ball high past Casillas.

Scottish thoughts now turned to an improbable winner. Instead it was Spain who pulled out a third.

Considering Levein’s decision to play not striker against the Czech Republic, Del Bosque will have doubtless appreciated the irony in him dropping his two-goal forward from last Friday, Fernando Llorente.


He stoops to conquer: Steven Naismith's header leaves Casillas helpless and gets Scotland off the mark


That left Villa (inset) as the lone forward, though one ably supported by Iniesta and David Silva.

But it was Silva whom Llorente replaced in the 76th minute. Three minutes later Joan Capdevila did what he had done all night, eased down the left and sent in a good cross. Stephen McManus missed it and Llorente was waiting to meet it on the volley. Allan McGregor, who made a number of fine saves, was beaten again.

Having chased Spain all game, Scotland had nothing more to give, bar a rash challenge by Steven Whittaker on Sergio Ramos in the 89th minute. Booked for his handball on the penalty — a block of a Ramos shot — Whittaker was shown a second yellow card and a red.

The match ended with Villa one-on-one with McGregor and claiming to have been pulled down as he shaped to shoot. The final whistle terminated that debate but Scotland’s players left to an ovation and Levein saluted the 51,322 present: ‘I wish I could shake the hand of every one of them.’

Del Bosque saluted them too: ‘Scotland had character, spirit, pure hard work and great play.’




source :dailymail