Scotland 1-1 Croatia: Spirited draw gives Burley hope for 2010 campaign

GEORGE Burley was unable to make a winning start as Scotland manager last night but saw enough evidence during a highly competitive 1-1 draw with Croatia in a friendly international at Hampden to encourage him that qualification for the 2010 World Cup finals is a realistic goal.

Without seven players who withdrew from his original squad because of injury, Burley expressed his satisfaction with the performance of those who marked his first game in charge with a creditable result against the highly regarded Euro 2008 finalists.

"Overall, I'm very pleased with the commitment of the players," said Burley. "I learned a lot about individuals and the team. We were up against a team I believe are one of the best in Europe, so we had to work hard against them, which we did."

Scotland responded well to the loss of a spectacular tenth-minute goal scored by Portsmouth midfielder Niko Kranjcar to ensure Burley's reign did not start with a defeat, Kenny Miller equalising with his 11th goal for his country.

"Croatia started brightly and you could see they have a settled team," he said. "We conceded the early goal, but we hung in there and got back into the game. We showed a lot of character, we have a very committed squad and one with a lot of passion.

"We tried to take the game to them, but it didn't work in the first ten or 15 minutes. You have to give credit to Croatia for that, because they moved us around and forced some of our attacking players back.

"We have areas of our game to improve, and there are one or two players who could come into the squad, but we saw some different faces tonight and that was good for me."

Hibs striker Steven Fletcher lasted just 45 minutes as he made his debut on his 21st birthday. He was unable to continue in the second half after suffering a chest injury but he set up Miller's goal and earned warm praise from Burley. "I thought he did well," said the manager. "He has had a good season for Hibs and deserved his call-up. I'm sure he is going to play a big part for us in the future."

Burley has two more friendly internationals, against the Czech Republic in Prague on 30 May and Northern Ireland at Hampden on 20 August, before the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign begins with a Group Nine double-header away from home against Macedonia and Iceland on 6 and 10 September.

Croatian manager Slaven Bilic hailed last night's match as perfect preparation for his team's Euro 2008 finals participation this summer and believes Scotland can go into their World Cup programme in bullish mood.

"Scotland shouldn't be afraid of anyone," said Bilic. "The Netherlands are the big team in their group, but this will be a hard place for them to come. Scotland were very unlucky not to qualify for Euro 2008 and their football is very strong now.

"It was a great test for us tonight. It was exactly what we wanted. That's why I chose Scotland, because I knew it would be a really competitive game."

Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher limped out of Hampden with a potentially serious knee injury, but Scott Brown is expected to be fit to play for Celtic in Saturday's Old Firm match despite suffering a knock. His club-mates Stephen McManus and Paul Hartley completed the full match, while Gary Caldwell played for 70 minutes.

Craig Gordon reflected on Croatia's early strike from Kranjcar, which appeared to change direction in the air. The Sunderland goalkeeper put this down to the type of ball used at Hampden last night. "That's an example of what these new Diadora balls can do when they are hit like that," said Gordon. "It makes our job ever harder. It would have happened to any goalkeeper in the world with that kind of movement."

McManus led the Scotland team out for the first time and the defender was relieved not to lose his debut match as skipper. "It was a hell of a strike from the lad for their goal but it was a good time for us to score," he said. McManus also expressed his pride at being asked to wear the armband. "It hasn't really sunk in yet. I think it will take a few days," he added.