New Scotland boss Alex McLeish wanted his team to play with a swagger.
Instead, they started with a stagger and never quite found their feet in this Hampden friendly against old foe Costa Rica.
Of course, the Costa Ricans had caused the Scots and McLeish pain before by beating them 1-0 in a World Cup shocker at Italia 90.
This game carried none of the importance of that infamous result in Genoa 28 years ago but it still would have been nice to get McLeish’s second stint in charge of the national team off to a winning start.
The visitors took the lead on 14 minutes when Marcos Urena finished off a fine move with a low shot and, despite an improved second-half display, they could find the back of the net.
Now it is off to Budapest to meet Hungary in another friendly on Tuesday to try to get some kind of feelgood factor going.
This wasn’t quite bad enough for the Strachan SOS sign to come out again but there is plenty of room for improvement.
At kick-off, there was a nice sight for Dundee fans as one of their old boys, Kevin McDonald, made his debut in midfield.
Now 29, McDonald caught the eye as a talented youngster at Dens Park.
He earned his call-up with some fine displays for Fulham and was one of 10 Anglos in McLeish’s first line-up, with Aberdeen’s Scott McKenna the sole Scots-based starter.
Scotland, who were captained by Charlie Mulgrew, also handed debuts to McKenna, Oli McBurnie of Barnsley and Manchester United’s Scott McTominay. Old Trafford boss Jose Mourinho was in attendance to keep an eye on McTominay.
There were huge gaps in the stands as the players came out, surely calling into question the wisdom of holding this match at Hampden rather than at a more compact ground elsewhere in the country.
The Costa Ricans, of course, could boast something the Scots could not. They qualified for the World Cup in Russia this summer, where they will face Brazil, Serbia and Switzerland while McLeish’s men watch on TV.
The hosts went with three centre-backs – Grant Hanley, Mulgrew and McKenna – but in the opening minutes it looked like a five as the visitors pushed them back.
Playing the three seemed to be causing the Scots problems, with Costa Rica finding pockets of space in behind the backline.
It happened again on 14 minutes and led to the opening goal for the visitors.
Daniel Colindres clipped a neat short pass to Bryan Oviedo up the left. With Tom Cairney not bothering to track him Oviedo raced to the byline before squaring the ball to Urena, who had taken up position 12 yards from goal.
The Los Angeles FC player hit his shot first time as Mulgrew tried in vain to get a block in and the low shot flew past keeper Allan McGregor.
Juts three minutes later, Scotland came close to levelling when Cardiff City’s Callum Paterson glanced a header past the far post off a Matt Ritchie corner.
David Guzman was booked for fouling McBurnie after he was robbed of possession by the Scot. Mulgrew chipped the freekick forward but McKenna’s nod into the goalmouth was cleared.
Scotland’s first shot on target didn’t arrive until 28 minutes but it was a good one.
McBurnie bobbed and weaved before unleashing a strike from just inside the penalty area that forced Real Madrid goalie Keylor Navas to dive and push it away.
McTominay gave the ball away on 31 minutes and Urena pounced but his shot was blocked.
The hosts had a claim for a penalty ignored three minutes later when Andy Robertson crossed from the left and McBurnie fell to the floor along with Oscar Duarte of the visitors. The appeal was for a trip on McBurnie but it would have been a soft one.
Celso Borges nodded over for the visitors and Colindres had a 30-yard shot blocked before German referee Tobias Stieler brought a disappointing first half for the home team to an end.
Ther Scots seemed more fired up after the restart and a stretching Ritchie just couldn’t get his head on the end of a fine cross from McKenna two minutes after the break.
They could have been 2-0 down, though, just a minute later when left-back Andy Robertson found himself on the wrong side of Bryan Ruiz and the midfielder was able to cut in and fire a shot that clipped McGregor’s bar.
Celtic pair Stuart Armstrong and Callum McGregor replaced McTominay and Cairney on 58 minutes as the Scots sought an equaliser.
A nice bit of skill from McBurnie saw him roll his marker to create space for McGregor to burst forward from midfield. The Celt fed the ball forward to Ritchie, whose shot was well struck but pushed over by Navas and on to the roof of the net. McBurnie headed the resultant corner over.
This was better from the home team, though, and they created another chance on 68 minutes but McBurnie couldn’t sort his feet out as a Robertson low cross from the left flashed in front of him just a couple of yards from goal.
It was all Scotland now and, on 79 minutes, a Ritchie ball in from the right to the back post just eluded the inrushing Mulgrew. Robertson then sprinted up the left before delivering a ball to Ritchie, who poked his shot into the arms of Navas.
Mulgrew was replaced by Hibs’ John McGinn with nine minutes to go and that saw former Dundee United man Robertson wear the Scotland’s captain’s arm band for the first time.
He almost added to that achievement with a goal but his header at the back post from Paterson’s cross whizzed past with just a couple of minutes to go.
Attendance: 20,488.
Scotland: McGregor, Paterson, Robertson, Hanley, Mulgrew (McGinn 81), McKenna, McTominay (Armstrong 58), McDonald, McBurnie (Phillips 77), Cairney (McGregor 58), Ritchie (Murphy 87). Subs not used: Archer, McLaughlin, Christie, Forrest, McGinn, Douglas, Cummings, McLean, Fraser, Hendry.
Costa Rica: Navas, Acosta, Gonzalez, Duarte, Gamboa (Smith 75), Oviedo (Calvo 77), Borges, Guzman (Tejeda 56), B. Ruiz, Colindres (Wallace 64), Urena (Y. Ruiz 69). Subs not used: Moreira, Briceno, Segura, Mitchell, Azofeifa, Waston, Gutierrez.
Referee: Tobias Stieler (Germany).
