Scotland Bolivia produced an excellent Scots performance & a 4-0 win in New Jersey yesterday. Scotland’s WC26 opener versus Haiti is now only a week away. We profile 3 players who enhanced their selection prospects most for the Haiti game, from the Scotland Bolivia game yesterday.
Lawrence Shankland
Shankland opened the scoring with a back post header in the 5th minute, from Andy Robertson’s trademark inch perfect cross. After the Curacao game last week, Shankland was on 6 goals from his total of 601 minutes playing for the Scotland Men’s National Team (SMNT). His goal & 61 mins playing yesterday now means he has 7 goals from 663 minutes in his 20 SMNT caps. On average that is a goal every 95 mins he’s played for the SMNT. He also notched an assist yesterday, setting up Scott McTominay to fire home. Hence his SMNT 7 goals & 2 assists come at a very impressive average of 1 every 74 mins.
Shankland could have improved his international strike even further yesterday. Specifically, he missed a sitter from Kieran Tierney’s low cross from the left into the box. Normally such a composed 2-footed finisher, Shankland on this occasion allowed the ball to slide across him on to his right foot. Would have been better instead caressing the ball into the net with his left foot? The point remains though, Lawrence Shankland is widely seen as Scotland’s current best finisher. He excitingly goes into WC26 looking very much on form.
Ché Adams
Adams’ double yesterday v Bolivia means he now has 13 goals from his 47 full caps. His best of those goals remains his tremendous 2021 Hampden goal winning 2-0 versus Denmark. However, more eye-catching is he now has 7 goals from his most recent 9 SMNT appearances. In those 9 games, he averages a goal every 93 mins. Through the assist he also has in that spell, he averages a goal or assist in those 9 games every 84 mins.
If Adams & Shankland were both to each play 3 x 90 mins in the group stage at WC26, that would be 6 goals between them if they both maintained that average. Both Morocco & Brazil though in particular, will very much have something to say about that. Haiti have shown with 6 goals combined in their warm up games versus New Zealand & Peru that they can score goals. However, Adams like Shankland must fancy his chances that they can do some damage to the Haitians in the opening Scotland WC26 game next weekend.
Ben Gannon-Doak
What a threat 20-year-old Gannon-Doak offers when he is fit & available. Ask Joško Gvardiol & Patrick Dorgu among others what a nightmare Gannon-Doak is to defend against. His assist for Adams yesterday means Gannon-Doak has 2 assists & a goal from the last 4 Scotland games in which he has played. That equates to a goal every 216 minutes and a goal or assist every 72 mins from when he played in those 4 games.
And therein lies the difficulty with Gannon-Doak; when he played. Each time he steps on to the pitch, there is a concern he will pick up another musculoskeletal injury, that have dogged his career so far. Hence the attempt to sensibly manage his minutes. Steve Clarke subbed him off yesterday after 62 mins.
As again evidenced yesterday, his speedy, direct attacking play gives Scotland a threat of a kind that is simply not there when he is not on the pitch. Some point out that in April a full Scotland internationalist, the blisteringly quick Oli Burke, was measured as the 2nd fastest player in Bundesliga history at 22.99 mph. Burke though hasn’t the electrifying potency of the combined speed & ball control that Gannon-Doak brings to the pitch. If there is key 1 point that the Scotland Bolivia game emphasised yesterday, it is the attacking importance of a fit & firing Ben Gannon-Doak.
