Faroes 0-2 Scotland … A win’s a win

By: Ian Rose | June 6th, 2007

Well, that wasn’t the prettiest win ever. Nowhere near as dominating as the last time we played the Faroes, 6-0 at Celtic Park, but three points are three points. First-half goals from Garry O’Connor (who is beginning to look like the best decision of Alex McLeish’s career) and Shaun Maloney propelled us to the win.

The defense didn’t look great, and Kris Boyd was a bit less impressive than I’ve seen him lately. I think if there’s one thing I would have done different, it would have been to take Boyd out earlier. He was subbed out for first-time international Steven Naismith in the 83rd minute. I have to say - I just don’t generally agree with making subs that late, unless they’re forced by something specific. Boyd could have been taken out ten minutes earlier - that would have given the youngster Naismith a real chance to do something. This was also the first international action for Rangers’ Charlie Adam, who had a few late shots after coming on in the 77th minute, but was unable to find the net.

Hats off to the Faroe Islands this week. The minnows played twice at home in four days, and lost by one goal to Italy (World #1) and two goals to Scotland (World #14). Just a reminder - they are ranked 195th. In this match, they were outplayed in the first half, but started the second half with a lot of confidence, taking the first six shots of the half. Overall, Scotland barely outshot the Faroes, though we did have a bigger advantage in shots on goal. Group B was a harsh draw for them - there are some teams out there in the other groups they could certainly beat or at least draw.

Now that this game is over, and Scotland sits on 15 points from 7 matches, my attention turns to Lithuania v Italy. The Lithuanians have looked dangerous lately, and if they can produce a home draw or even win over the Italians, it would mean a lot for Scotland. Of course, once this match is over, I’ll return to having no love for Lithuania, as I will be watching them come to Hampden in September, when Scotland will need the home win.

We’ll take this result, though a few more goals would have been nice. I’ve decided that, by the Transitive Property of Football, we have beaten Italy by a goal this week, since they beat the Faroes 2-1 and we beat the Faroes 2-0. Let’s see if we can do it face to face later on in this campaign. Alba Gu Brath.