Chris Martin got an hour and Tom Cairney 75 minutes. And it finished 1-1. The good news is that Tom was free of injury and arguably Scotland's best: "All eyes, then, were on Cairney and the Fulham man did not disappoint on his senior debut. Flitting between a deeper berth beside Darren Fletcher and a more advanced role that took him closer to Steven Naismith, the 26 year-old was one of few Scotland players to enhance their reputation on a night when many toiled. An early tackle showcased his strength but the highlights were mostly of a more productive nature, with his passing surprisingly crisp on the soggy surface. One dead-eyed delivery down the middle sent Chris Martin clear only for the goalkeeper to save the striker’s shot, while another well-weighted diagonal ball sent Lee Wallace scurrying free to create another chance that was passed up by Oliver Burke. By the end of the first half, however, Cairney had his first international assist as Scotland drew level." Source and story: http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport...ious_few_at_Easter_Road_to_see_it/?ref=twtrec
I heard about Strachan's Fulham comment. If Scotland ever get that far, they're doomed for penalty shoot-outs then.
And the other guys out yesterday - Tomas Kalas played the second-half of Czech Republic’s 3-0 victory over Lithuania, with all three goals coming in the latter-half of the game. Head Coach Karel Jarolim made 10 substitutions at half-time, which included bringing on Kalas for Tomas Sivok and it didn’t take long for the changes to take effect. Thomas Horava scored three minutes after coming on as a substitute and Jakub Jankto and Michal Krmencik added two more goals later on. Next up for Kalas and his Czech team-mates is a World Cup Qualifier and an away trip to San Marino on Sunday. In the U21s Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson started Iceland’s 3-1 defeat against Georgia U21s, there will be a re-match between the two sides on Saturday with Iceland looking for an improved performance.
Steven Sessegnon was over in Bosnia today playing for England U17s in an opening Euro elite round qualifier, against Czech Republic. Bit of a roller coaster score wise, ending up 5-3 in favour of England, but in fact the Young Lions were always well on top.
Not brilliant for our Burton internationals. Lasse Vegan Christian's Denmark U21s went down 3-1 to Spain yesterday and tonight Cauley Woodrow stayed on the bench as England's U21s went down 1-0 to Germany in Wiesbaden. Both games were friendlies. Jesse Joronen also sat out his game on the bench tonight when Finland lost their World Cup qualifier 2-0 away to Turkey. And another who sat on the bench was Gohi Cyriac as the Ivory Coast lost 2-0 in a friendly in Russia. Better news for Ragnur Sigurdsson though. Iceland won their World Cup qualifying match over in Kosovo 2-1. Thought for a minute our Sigurdsson had scored Iceland's second - from a penalty no less - but in fact it was another one, Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Could be cynical and say he saved one man his job and lost another his, in the same month. Just for the record Chris Martin came on 8 minutes from the end and scored the sole goal of the match in the 88th. Unbelievably Tom Cairney sat the game out on the bench. Could be parochial and say, good! Our other boys on show tonight - Stefan Johansen, got 75 minutes in Norway's 2-0 defeat to Northern Ireland in Belfast and not too dissimilar, Neeskens Kebano played 73 minute in Congo's 2-1 defeat to Kenya.
Was hoping to see Cairney play some part tonight but given the way the game was going and the subs we had to make I can understand why he didn't get on. Good news for Fulham anyway, a fresh Tom Cairney for next weekend. Perhaps Tom will make his competitive debut against England in June, and I'm sure you will all be cheering him on to do well......
To round things off: "Young forward Mattias Kait was inserted into the Estonia starting XI for the World Cup qualifier against Cyrprus. He played the full match in what was a drab encounter, which more of less dispels any realistic hope of qualification for both sides. Tomáš Kalas did not take part in the 6-0 mauling of San Marino as the Czech Republic leapfrogged Azerbaijan in the standings. Defender Michael Madl did not feature for Austria in their 2-0 win over Moldova and Tim Ream & the USA are still yet to take on Panama in the coming days."
Cauley Woodrow got the third goal on the hour for England U21s in their 4-0 win over Denmark tonight. He came off after 74 minutes for Tammy Abraham. On the losing side LVC played the whole match. Here's Cauley's goal
Tayo Edun played the full match in England U19s 5-1 win over Belarus. That 's 3 out of 3 for the Young Lions in the Elite qualifiers and sees them heading for Georgia and the Finals this summer. Ryan Sessegnon sat out the game on the bench. So another of our squad nicely rested for the Rotherham match at the weekend.
With the score at 1-1 Senegal and the Ivory Coast were forced to abandon their friendly 88 minutes into play last night when fans invaded the pitch at Stade Charlety in Paris. Senegal defender Lamine Gassama was reportedly tackled to the ground by one of the fans on the pitch. After a goalless opening half, Liverpool's Sadio Mane netted from the penalty spot 23 minutes into the second to give Senegal the lead. Then two minutes later our very own Ghobi Cyriac, who had come off the bench on the hour, netted for the Ivorians to draw the game level. Here's the Cyriac goal -
Steven Sessegnon played for England U17s this afternoon in their 1-0 win over Bosnia. please log in to view this image That's another 3 out of 3 in qualifiers for a Young Lion's team and this time it's off to Croatia for the Finals.
And the last clutch (I think) of this round and including rather good news about one old boy: Tim Ream started his first game for the USA since May 2016 as they battled to a 1-1 draw away at Panama early on Wednesday morning. The centre-half completed the full game having come off the bench and played 20 minutes in Friday’s 6-0 win over Honduras. Former White Clint Dempsey opened the scoring for the USA in the 39th minute but Panama replied with a goal from Gabriel Gomez four minutes later. The result leaves USA fourth in their World Cup Qualification group behind Panama, Costa Rica and table toppers Mexico. Iceland handed Republic of Ireland their first home defeat in three years when they secured a 1-0 win in an international friendly. Centre-back Ragnar Sigurdsson was at the heart of the Iceland defence that kept the Irish at bay and completed 53-minutes before being replaced by Holmar Orn Eyjolfsson. Hordur Magnusson’s 21st minute free-kick was enough to secure a memorable victory for the Icelanders. Estonia ran out 3-0 winners over Croatia as Mattias Kait completed another full 90-minutes for his national side. The home team opened the scoring after 57 seconds through Siim Luts and added two second-half goals from Konstantin Vassiljev and Sergei Zenjov. Michael Madl and Jesse Joronen were denied the opportunity to face each other as they were both unused substitutes in the friendly between Austria and Finland. Austria opened the scoring through Marko Arnautovic before Finland pulled one back when Fredrik Jensen’s shot from outside the box beat Heinz Linder to make it 1-1. In Slovakia Marek Rodak started in goal as their U21s beat Serbia 2-1 in a friendly. After a goalless first-half Slovakia went 2-0 up with goals from Laszlo Benes and Adam Zrelak before Sergej Milinkovic-Savic pulled one back for the Serbians.