Macedonia 1-0 Scotland: Bad start for Burley
Scotland suffered a disappointing start to their World Cup qualifying campaignwhen they slumped to defeat against Macedonia in their opening match.
Ilcho Naumoski climbs a fence to celebrate.
The home side took the lead after just five minutes and Ilcho Naumoski's strikeproved to be decisive as Srecko Katanec's men held on to claim all threepoints.The searing temperatures in Skopje were always going to be an issue for theScots and they lacked a cutting edge for the remainder of the game, failing tofind the goal that would at least have allowed them to put an early point on theboard.George Burley had his preferred team in mind for several weeks ahead of thismatch and there were no real surprises when his starting XI was revealed.• Burley: Battling Scots deserved pointKenny Miller and James McFadden both started and were given the task of gettingthe goals despite a less than inspiring partnership in last month's drabgoalless friendly against Northern Ireland at Hampden.With West Brom's James Morrison injured, Barry Robson was given the nod inmidfield alongside Celtic team-mates Paul Hartley and Scott Brown, as well asDarren Fletcher.As expected, stand-in skipper Stephen McManus was able to shake off a knock hepicked up in last week's Old Firm derby to take his place in the heart ofdefence with Gary Caldwell.Hundreds of Scotland fans were locked out of the City Stadium before kick-offwhen the Macedonian Football Association refused to allow entry to those withtickets for the home end, fearing for the safety of fans.The 1,000 travelling supporters who did manage to see the game witnessed theworst possible start when Scotland found themselves trailing with just fiveminutes on the clock.The Macedonians earned a free-kick just outside the area when McManus wasdeemed to have fouled Goran Maznov and Goce Sedloski stepped up for theset-piece. His effort was touched on to the post by goalkeeper Craig Gordon butNaumoski pounced to rifle home the rebound from six yards.The Scots could have hit back through a free-kick of their own when GrahamAlexander was fouled by Robert Petrov but Robson's curling shot was weak andeasily smothered by goalkeeper Petar Milosevski.Macedonia threatened again when Petrov provided a cross from the left for GoranPandev but his ferocious volley cannoned off the body of Caldwell, denying thehome side's star man the chance to add to their tally.Scotland then had a decent chance of their own when Fletcher set up McFaddenand he embarked on a run which took him past several red jerseys only for hisshot to be blocked by the body of Igor Mitreski, before the Birmingham strikernodded the rebound wide.At the other end, the home fans screamed for a penalty when Maznov went toground under pressure from Gordon but the Macedonia man appeared to make themost of it and the pleas were ignored by referee Pavel Kralovec.Veliche Shumolikoski then released Maznov on a surging run which was halted byCaldwell. The ball broke to Pandev but he fired straight at Gordon in whatproved to be the last real chance of the first half.Scotland tried to force their way back into the game after the break and ScottBrown drew a decent save from Milosevski with a well-struck shot from distance,before the heroics of Gordon prevented the visitors from falling furtherbehind.A Pandev corner was cleared as far as Shumolikoski who unleashed a thunderouslong range effort that the Scots keeper just managed to tip over the crossbarwith one hand.Gordon then punched to safety a dangerous cross into the box from Pandev beforeMaznov could connect with a header at his right post.Scotland made their first change when Kris Commons replaced Hartley, beforeGordon was again called into action to block a point-blank effort fromNaumoski.Burley's men failed with their own claim for a penalty when Miller playedthrough McFadden and he went to ground as the goalkeeper dived to claim theball.No spot-kick was forthcoming and all McFadden earned for his protests was ayellow card from the Czech official.Miller was withdrawn for Rangers team-mate Kris Boyd with ten minutes to go asthe Scots had one last throw of the dice but Macedonia held on for maximumpoints with Burley still seeking his first win as Scotland manager.Burley: Battling Scots deserved pointGeorge Burley insisted Scotland did enough for a draw as their World Cupqualifying campaign got off to the worst possible start in Macedonia.But Burley, still without a win four games after taking over, insists hisside's improved second-half display deserved more.''Disappointed to lose but all of the second half I thought we dominated thegame,'' he said.''We kept battling away until the end and I thought they deserved something outof it.''Burley refused to use the heat as an excuse for his side's slow start andrevealed how his half-time team-talk led to an improved second-half showing.''I said 'I want you to step on a bit more, not back off them, put them underpressure','' he said.''And, second half, I thought we were outstanding. We played some goodfootball, passed it well, but their keeper's made a few good saves.''He added: ''You don't always get what you deserve.''Burley set a target of 17 points out of 24 from Scotland's Group 9 campaign buthe does not believe Wednesday's match in Iceland has now become a must-wingame.But he said: ''You're always looking to pick points up.''''I spoke to the boys and they thought it was a stonewall penalty,'' saidBurley, who refused to criticise a referee he had expressed concern about in thebuild-up to the match.''Overall, the referee had a good game. Maybe that decision he got wrong.''Macedonia coach Srecko Katanec said: ''Every team in the group has the samechance to progress. We are not favourites for second place. We are happy withthe win but will keep our feet on the ground.''On Scotland's penalty claim, he added: ''Our win was clear because we were themuch better team in the first half. Macedonia could also have had a penalty inthe first half when the game was 1-0.'' |
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發表於 2008-9-7 12:36 AM
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