Image Credits: Imago Images
Scotland headed into Tuesday’s friendly against Ivory Coast at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Japan at Hampden Park at the weekend – and unfortunately, the result didn’t improve.
Steve Clarke made nine changes to freshen up his squad, switching to a 3-5-2 formation and handing opportunities to fringe players, with only Andy Robertson and Scott McTominay retaining their places from the previous match.
Former Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe bundled Ivory Coast in front after just 12 minutes, and despite Scotland showing more intent and endeavour in the second half, pressing forward and creating chances through set-pieces, they could never find the leveller, suffering back-to-back friendly defeats without scoring.
Yet amid the disappointment of the result, there was a moment of genuine personal pride for Robertson.
The Liverpool vice-captain won his 92nd cap on the night, moving into outright second place on Scotland’s all-time appearances list – a record he now holds alone after going ahead of Jim Leighton. He is sitting just 10 caps behind the legendary Kenny Dalglish’s mark of 102.
It is a remarkable achievement for a player who has captained his country with distinction for years, and who just months ago led Scotland to their first World Cup qualification since 1998 with a famous 4-2 victory over Denmark on his 90th appearance.
And on his record-setting appearance, Scottish media were complimentary of the 32-year-old.
The Scotsman gave Robertson a 7/10 for his showing and wrote:
“The captain moved into outright second in the caps list with his 92nd appearance. In the city where he played his club football, Robertson was one of Scotland’s better player. Was often the chief outlet in an attacking sense and perhaps all that was lacking was a killer final ball. Remains one of our most offensive players – even from left-back.”
The National likewise gave the Reds vice-captain a 7/10 rating and commented:
“As ever, the captain showed a real willingness to bomb forward at will to try to make something happen. He delivered a number of fairly dangerous looking balls into the box, but a mixture of hesitation from attackers and good defending meant that final piece was missing for Scotland.”
The left-back is out of contract at Liverpool in the summer and has revealed that he will be making a decision soon on his future.
Performances like this only strengthen the argument that there is still real value in keeping him around, even if Milos Kerkez is viewed as the long-term first-choice left-back.
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