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73 min: … Shankland swings a leg at Fletcher’s delivery but swishes thin air. He’s built up plenty of moral credit today, he’s allowed that.
72 min: … but that isotonic break jiggers Scotland’s rhythm a bit. Eventually Robertson moves up a gear and wins a corner down the left off Floranus. From which …
70 min: Another drinks break. All good prep for the tournament.
68 min: Fletcher is booked for sliding through the back of Kastaneer. That was pretty clumsy, especially in front of a referee who’s already flashed his red card today.
67 min: Fletcher chases after a pass down the right, traps on the byline, but can’t find Shankland in the middle with his cutback. Scotland are rampant now. You’ve got to type that sentence while you can.
65 min: It’s nearly a speedy hat-trick for Shankland, who is sent into space down the middle by Dykes. But he’s not able to get a clean strike away. Room deals with it.
GOAL! Scotland 3-1 Curaçao (Shankland 64)
Another in short order for Shankland! McLean advances down the middle and finds Dykes on the left-hand edge of the D. Dykes plays a clever pass across the face of the box for Shankland, who creams a shot across Room and into the bottom left!
62 min: Robertson crosses from the left. Christie stoops to head wide of the bottom-left corner. The hosts well on top now.
61 min: Curaçao make a double change, sending on Noslin and Antonisse in place of Juninho Bacuna and Comenencia.
GOAL! Scotland 2-1 Curaçao (Shankland 59)
The resulting corner’s worked back up the right touchline for Christie, who whips a low cross into the box. Shankland meets it, ten yards out, cracking a first-time shot into the bottom right. A lovely, crisp finish!
58 min: McLean whips a cross in from the left. Too high for Dykes. Shankland is lurking behind, so Comenencia is forced to intervene, sending a diving header over his own bar. Comenencia so close to becoming the Sandy Brown de nos jours.
57 min: Curtis digs out a cross from the left. Shankland cushions the ball down for Christie, who pearls a shot from the edge of the D towards the bottom left. Room saves well. That was great play from Scotland, who have a new star in Findlay Curtis.
55 min: The Curaçao captain Leandro Bacuna is replaced by Roemeratoe.
53 min: … but that’d surely be just a fever dream. Patterson probes down the right, and though his cross is blocked, the ball comes back to him and he tries to sidefoot a first-time half-volley goalwards. Over the bar it flies. Decent effort, to be fair.
52 min: Hanley plays a godawful pass out from the back that goes nowhere near a blue shirt. Chong advances on the Scotland box but can’t get a proper shot away. Dear me, though. If Scotland somehow manage to lose to the ten men of Curaçao …
51 min: Leandro Bacuna scores three rugby points with an overly ambitious free kick, 35 yards from goal.
49 min: Christie and Shankland combine crisply down the right, the latter testing Room with a drive from 12 yards. Chong tries to launch a counter, and is stopped illegally by McLean, who goes into the book.
48 min: … then suddenly turn it up a notch, Robertson swinging in a cross from the left that Dykes nearly gets on the end of. Room claims.
47 min: Scotland start the second half patiently …
Curaçao get the ball rolling again, having made one change: they send on Kastaneer for Bazoer. Meanwhile Scotland make five switches, sending on Dykes, Hanley, Hyam, Patterson and Fletcher for Hickey, Souttar, McKenna, Hirst and Gannon-Doak.
Half-time entertainment. Seeing we were on the subject of We Have A Dream …
HALF TIME: Scotland 1-1 Curaçao
An eventful first half comes to an end in farcical circumstances, as Room, busy ranting at the referee, is accidentally showered by a pitchside sprinkler. A comedy basic that never fails to tickle.
45 min +6: Robertson creams a shot over the bar from a tight angle on the left. Then Curtis crosses low from the same flank, but the ball rolls behind Hirst.
45 min +5: Curtis is popping up everywhere. Full of energy after his first international goal.
45 min +3: … and that leads to a brief outbreak of head tennis, before Curaçao clear their lines.
45 min +2: The second of six additional minutes. Gannon-Doak wins a corner down the right …
45 min +1: That was a cute finish by Curtis. Not much power, but that wasn’t the point. It was all about precision, a neat first touch, and taking the shot early.
GOAL! Scotland 1-1 Curaçao (Curtis 45)
What an introduction by Curtis! A mere couple of minutes after coming on, he latches onto McLean’s pass down the inside-left channel, takes a touch inside the box, and dribbles a shot across Room and into the bottom right! The mood changes instantly!
44 min: If the game was bitty before, it’s positively in pieces after that VAR check and the pause for Gilmour’s injury.
42 min: Gilmour looks really unhappy for a minute or so. Then, thankfully, appears slightly less flustered as he gets up and walks off the pitch and down the tunnel. No limp. Curtis comes on in his place. Hopefully this substitution is just precautionary. Fingers crossed, everyone.
40 min: Gilmour pings a pass wide right for Gannon-Doak, then hops, spins, and signals to the bench before going down. That doesn’t look good. There was no contact, just a reaction as he sidefooted the ball to his team-mate. He’s holding his right knee.
39 min: Dick Advocaat is furious as well, railing at the fourth official. But that’s surely displacement. He’ll be raging at his player’s stupidity.
RED CARD: Locadia (Curaçao)
38 min: VAR gets involved. How badly did Locadia catch Hickey? Pretty badly, as it turns out. An elbow planted on the side of Hickey’s face as Locadia comes across. The referee goes over to the screen, and has no option. Red card. Locadia is fuming, but what a daft thing to do.
36 min: Chong thinks he’s got the better of Hickey down the left, but the full-back wins a grapple. Chong doesn’t get the foul he thinks he deserves, and throws a toddler’s tantrum. Hickey gets on with the job of clearing the ball, and is cleaned out by Locadia for his trouble. The whistle goes, and the ref books both of the Curaçao players.
34 min: Christie dribbles hard down the left. For a second, it looks as if a route through to goal will open up for him, but Curaçao shut the door, and there are no options in the middle.
