LIKE a tattered army obliged to retreat and regroup, Scotland could draw some encouragement from the 1-0 defeat by Argentina the other night. To reinforce the players' sense of defiance, George Burley could perhaps organise a history lesson, based on what occurred in the years that followed Dunkirk in the Second World War.
For the national team, of course, the next engagement is a mere four months away, against the Netherlands in Amsterdam. But, considering the depleted forces with which Burley had to defend the country's honour against better equipped opponents at
Hampden Park, there is hope yet that the World Cup qualifying campaign is not a lost cause.
There is certainly no direct correlation to be made between a friendly at home to the South Americans and a visit to the Dutch – the latter odds-on favourites to win Group 9 – but it is possible to ascertain particular strengths and weaknesses which may offer a rough guide to prospects in forthcoming events.
In this respect, Burley surely has an unarguable case when he cites the spirit, commitment and industry of his players and when, as he did before Wednesday's match, he asserts that, in order to achieve "a result" – that is, at worst the avoidance of defeat – against emphatically quicker and more skilful rivals, the Scots have to work harder.
That the manager tends not to dwell on his squad's shortcomings is almost certainly attributable to his private recognition of them and the inadvisability of admitting it in public, on the grounds of possibly undermining the players' self-esteem. When, a few days before this week's game, he was asked directly for his opinion on Scotland's most telling weakness, he simply evaded the question, insisting that he would rather concentrate on their strengths.
It was an entirely predictable and understandable response, since nobody in his position could reasonably be expected to tell the world that the most serious difficulty with those in his charge is that they lack natural talent.
That is a comparative phenomenon and, in relation to Diego Maradona's side, the Scots would have to be placed among the lower orders. Particularly during the opening 20 minutes of the match, the speed and accuracy with which the Argentina players played the ball, the pace of their physical movement and their mental agility were qualities that would be inconceivable when applied to Burley's players.
While Burley was unquestionably ill-served by the unavailability of seven of his original squad – at least four of whom would have started, with the other three very likely to have been involved at some stage – none of the players who withdrew is noted for going about his work at the high tempo and with the virtuosity that are common to the leading countries in international football.
But, as discussed in this observer's Saturday column last week, that has been a core difficulty for a succession of Scotland managers for more than 20 years and there is nothing to be gained from lamenting the loss of assets that were once produced in what could properly be considered exceptional quantities for such a small country.
Burley, like Alex McLeish, Walter Smith, Craig Brown, Andy Roxburgh and even Berti Vogts before him, is obliged to ditch wishful thinking in favour of reality and try as effectively as possible to minimise the potentially damaging consequences of the vices and maximise the virtues. Vogts' 'crime' was a failure to understand, or even acknowledge, the fundamental flaws, using in his time more than 70 players, around two-thirds of whom hardly merited a second look, far less selection.
The others (including the present incumbent so far) made at least a respectable job of compensating for the general shortfall in skill, flair and verve by concentrating on organisation, diligence and doggedness. The latter are, of course, nothing like as aesthetically satisfying as the former, but, as Vogts demonstrated conclusively, it would be folly to by-pass them in pursuit of the non-existent.
Against Argentina, Burley, below, despite finishing the match with what was virtually a Scottish Premier League select, showed that the application of his pragmatism could at least contain – and, at times, even trouble – blatantly superior opponents. This is not to predict that another workmanlike performance will yield a profit against the Dutch in Amsterdam in March, but it does leave room for a little hope.
Declan McGarvey joins the Maradona worshippers in downtown Buenos Aires as they hail his second comingPSYCHOLOGY student Alejandra Zapunar was one of a swarm of office workers packing the Florida City bar in Buenos Aires for the 6pm kick-off of a game that put Kevin Keegan's second coming as Newcastle manager into razor-sharp perspective.
"Maradona is God," declared Alejandra. "There is no-one else like him. He doesn't lose. He doesn't finish second or third. He only wants to win. The Argentinian players, Mascherano, Messi, they will do anything for him. Diego Maradona is a god to them."
Diego Maradona, El Dios (The God) and new coach of Argentina's football team was, lest we forget, on his death bed at a nearby Buenos Aires hospital this time four-and-a-half years ago.
On an adjacent table, IT workers Lionel Medor, Diego Vera and Juan Pablo Perez drank beers.
"We were here in the same bar a month ago for the World Cup qualifier between Argentina and Chile, and there was no-one here. Now you can't move for fans, and yet the other game was the more important one," sighed Diego. At 29, and like many of his generation, he was named in honour of Argentina's national icon.
For Alejandra, Diego and others, the expectation is that Maradona can weave his motivational magic and redress a dismal run of form that has left Argentina in third place in South America's World Cup qualifying campaign, seven points behind leaders Paraguay.
Prior to Wednesday's clash at Hampden, Argentina had won just one of their previous eight fixtures.
"The players don't give 100 per cent on the pitch," complained Juan Pablo. "They don't feel the colours of the national shirt. They don't have the same level of national pride that Maradona always had.
"The only thing the likes of (Lionel] Messi care about is money, but Maradona will never let them not feel the pride of wearing the national shirt."
Most Argentines question the attitude of a talented and highly-paid generation of young players that won gold at the last two Olympic tournaments, but which has continued to underperform at senior level.
"He's a winner, he's competitive, he never likes to lose and whatever problems he has experienced in life he overcame them," adds Juan Pablo.
"His ability to surprise is unfailing. Expect everything from Maradona. He is an extraordinary guy.
"Look at his choice of captain. Mascherano shares Maradona's passion. He will run and sweat and play with passion for 90 minutes, just as Diego did.
"Mascherano is from River (Plate], but he is the only one from River that Boca (Juniors] fans like me like." Mariel Iaciancio joined the group from a nearby table. "He needs to get them playing as a team. Argentina's players are big names, they play for big clubs, but they all play as individuals.
"When Tevez gets the ball he wants to score. He doesn't pass. If anyone can make them play as a team Maradona can."
But is this blind faith in a national idol whose coaching experience consists of two short stints in charge of Deportivo Mandiyu and Racing Club in the mid-1990s?
Few doubt Maradona's motivational powers, yet many wonder whether he has the tactical nous to coach at international level.
So did Maradona perform miracles on his first match in charge? The overwhelming response was that he needed more time.
"The performance was not much different from before," shrugged Mariel.
"We didn't play well, and as usual we didn't play as a team. We saw individuals and a good goal. Under Basile (former coach Alfio Basile] we were really bad. Today we were a little better. But we still played with no style, no cohesion.
"You could tell Maradona had had no time to prepare the players. Today was purely down to motivation."
For Scotland, scant praise was offered. "They are the opposite of Argentina. They have no individuals, but play with lots of teamwork," explained Diego.
"Technically, they appear very weak. Didn't they lose recently to Macedonia? If Argentina had played Germany or France today we would have lost."
Empty seats at Hampden brought bewilderment.
"Yeah, it's strange," said Diego. "If you watch Celtic in the Champions League the stadium is crammed. They seem like fanatics, passionate fans, like us Argentinians.
"Perhaps Argentina has lost its mystique. All of our players now play in Europe. Maybe if Messi had played, or (Sergio] Aguero or (Juan Roman] Riquelme. Maybe you are not happy with your team. Scotland deserves a better team, a better team than the English.
"You are noisy and passionate like us. I remember your team in the 1990s that got to the World Cups. At least then you had a fighting spirit."
The full article contains 1537 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
