Scotland’s goal blitz ends World Cup warm-ups on a high

Conservatism be damned, this was Scotland at their most lethal as they blasted four past Bolivia in the first half of their final World Cup warm-up.

Sure the goal rush completely ground to a halt in the second half as they strolled to their 4-0 win, but it was an attacking display to have head coach Steve Clarke purring in the opening 45 minutes..

In a far-from-packed Sports Illustrated Stadium in hot and humid New Jersey conditions, Lawrence Shankland scored first with a looping header in the fifth minute, before setting up midfielder Scott McTominay for a well-worked second in the 20th minute. Torino striker Che Adams added two more before the break.

The momentum stalled after Clarke made numerous second-half substitutions but Scotland remained in control and reeled off their second match in a row scoring four goals, just in time for their opener against Haiti next Sunday (UK time) in Foxborough – Scotland’s first game in the World Cup since 1998.

The Bolivians showed very little by way of opposition, exactly why they are Fifa-ranked 76 to Scotland’s 43, but there is confidence there for the Scots.

They wasted no time stealing a march. Captain Andy Robertson and Ryan Christie worked the ball down the left and when the Scots captain stood up a cross to the back post, Shankland headed high past Guillermo Viscarra.

Moments later, the Bolivia goalkeeper nervously spilled a shot from striker Adams but the ball fell kindly for the South Americans and they survived, as they did when the Torino striker took a pass from Shankland in the 20th minute and fired just wide from the edge of the box.

However, Bolivia could not hold out for much longer and when Shankland set up McTominay at the edge of the box, the Napoli midfielder fired the ball low past the struggling Viscarra.

After the water break, Adams converted a cross from Ben Gannon-Doak.

After a driving run from deep by Gannon-Doak in the 44th minute, he played in Adams and although his first shot bounced off Bolivian defenders, he thumped the rebound in from 16 yards.

John McGinn and Kieran Tierney took over from Christie and Robertson, and within minutes McTominay’s goal-bound header from a McGinn corner struck team-mate Jack Hendry.

Bolivia certainly showed more enterprise than they had in the first half but Clarke’s side remained sharp on the counter..

The game fizzled out, but happy fans can now get set for the real challenge next weekend.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]