They had composure at the back balance in midfield pace on the flanks and a striker with a point to prove

They had composure at the back, balance in midfield, pace on the flanks and a striker with a point to prove.Sand, who was eclipsed by Jon Dahl Tomasson in the Far East and returned without a goal, re-discovered his scoring touch in the ninth minute. After an initial flurry by Scotland, the visitors quickly slipped into the possession football which saw them break France’s fragile grip on the World Cup in June. By the midway point in the first half he may have been questioning the wisdom of inviting the Danes. I can’t understand why they didn’t get forward more.”The former Germany coach wanted his team to have a stern test. It was a sign of his frustration, however, that he singled out his captain and vice-captain, Paul Lambert and Barry Ferguson respectively, for criticism “I’ll have to talk to them both,” he added “They were brilliant in training but tonight we saw nothing. The news that the Faroes had gained a rare victory in their warm-up, albeit against Liechtenstein, will have many Scots evoking the spectre of Iran and Estonia.Asked whether he was worried about the Faroes, Vogts said: “No I am happy that I can work with the team We’ll have a week together and that will be important”.

Yet there was no disguising the dearth of quality in every department of the team. Ted MacDougall remains the last Scot to net against the Danes, back in 1975 when Vogts was still a side-burned young West Germany defender and Scotland had what today looks like an embarrassment of riches.Scotland’s next match, the opening European Champion-ship qualifier in the Faroe Isles on 7 September, is when Vogts will begin to be judged in earnest. Only once did Scotland threaten to end their barren run, but the referee failed to spot the red-shirted arm which unbalanced Steven Thompson as he shot. After a night when the late incursion by a nude male spectator came closer than any home player to provoking the Hampden roar, the naked truth is that Scotland’s losing streak now extends to all five matches of the Berti Vogts era ­ their worst sequence in 130 years of playing internationals.
Denmark, who scored early on through Ebbe Sand, seldom looked like relinquishing their lead in an uninspiring friendly. Substitutes: Crossley (Middlesbrough), Taylor (Burnley), Evans (Bradford City), Weston (Cardiff), Trollope (Fulham), Llewellyn (Norwich), Ward (Nottingham Forest), Vaughan (Crewe).Referee: L-M Fr?ch (Germany).. Substitutes: Butina (Dinamo Zagreb), Tomas (Vicenza), Vranjes (Bayer Leverkusen), S Maric (Dinamo Zagreb), Bazina (GAK Graz), Leko (Dinamo Zagreb), M Maric (K?ten), Petric (Grasshopper Zurich), Hrman (Varteks), Babic (Bayer Leverkusen).WALES: Jones (Southampton); Delaney (Aston Villa), Gabbidon (Cardiff), Melville (Fulham), Barnard (Grimsby), Pembridge (Everton), Robinson (Portsmouth), Johnson (WBA), Davies (Tottenham), Hartson (Celtic), Earnshaw (Cardiff). He picked the ball up on the halfway line, left three defenders trailing before cutting inside Filip Tapalovic and racing into the unguarded box to slip his first goal for his country under Stipe Pletikosa.CROATIA: Pletikosa (Hajduk Split); Zivkovic (Bayer Leverkusen), Tapalovic (Bochum), Simunic (Hertha Berlin), R Kovac (Bayern Munich), N Kovac (Bayern Munich, Saric (Panathinaikos), Vugrinec (Lecce), Vlaovic (Panathinaikos), Rapaic (Fenerbahce), T Maric (Wolfsburg).

With such a weakened side because of nine withdrawals through injury, it did not help the younger lads to be under pressure so early.But Wales started to take the initiative against a Croatian side who have relinquished their old brigade and brought in a new coach in Otto Baric because of their World Cup failure.With the ball fizzing around in neat passing moves from the Croatians, Wales needed to get hold of the ball, and Davies did that on 10 minutes with a wonderful run and opening goal. Wales were under instant pressure, largely caused by their own risky tackles on the edge of the box, Darren Barnard and Mark Delaney being the culprits. Drawn mostly from the Nationwide League, they showed Wales have new riches to back up the big names who were not here. Jones hacked a back pass straight at Mario Maric – and the ball bounced across goal for the grateful Mladen Petric to scoop home.It was a bitter blow for Wales, but Hughes can still be delighted with his team. From then on Wales’ patched-up side fought magnificently against the world’s 26th-ranked side, who competed in this summer’s World Cup.However, just when all the hard work of the captain Andy Melville and the battling of Mark Pembridge, Andy Johnson and Danny Gabiddon looked like earning another fine win for Mark Hughes’ side, they threw it all away.