A familiar face oversaw the dawn of a new era for Scotland, but it was a losing start to Alex McLeish’s second stint in charge of the national team at the hands of Costa Rica.
An experimental line-up gave McLeish his first true assessment of the options at his disposal, and his players were put to the test against a slick Central American outfit, ranked 26th in the world and gearing up for this summer’s World Cup.
Scotland fell behind to Marcos Urena’s early goal and were unable to come up with a response.
Just over a decade on from McLeish’s last stint in the dugout, the wait to reach a major tournament is still ongoing.
Gordon Strachan was the latest manager to try and fail to bring cheer to the Tartan Army but, despite ending the qualifying campaign for this summer’s World Cup in Russia on a high, McLeish’s intention to freshen up the side was firmly in evidence.
Dons defender Scott McKenna was joined by Scott McTominay, Kevin McDonald and Oli McBurnie in making his debut, with another five uncapped players on the bench, along with fellow Dons pair Ryan Christie and Kenny McLean.
It was a clear show of new ideas from McLeish, supported by some of the tried and tested such as Allan McGregor, Andy Robertson and captain Charlie Mulgrew.
Costa Rica started promisingly and McKenna, in particular, was forced to make some solid early interventions.
The visitors looked more fluent in their play and they were deserving of their 15th minute lead when it arrived. Daniel Colindres played Bryan Oviedo down the left flank, and his cutback was inch-perfect for the untracked run of Urena to stroke the ball past McGregor first time from 14 yards.
It was an early setback for McLeish’s Scots, but they spurned an ideal opportunity to restore parity within just two minutes when Matt Ritchie’s cross was nodded wide by the onrushing Callum Paterson. Set-pieces appeared to be a source of threat for the hosts, with McKenna getting on the end of a Mulgrew free kick but finding no takers for his header across goal.
There was little to excite the crowd but in-form attacker McBurnie threatened to bring Hampden to life on 28 minutes when he latched on to Robertson’s threaded pass before cutting inside, only to see his low strike from inside the box beaten clear by goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
McKenna made another block from a Urena shot from the edge of the box after McTominay had given the ball away, while at the other end a promising move down the left saw Robertson combine with Ritchie before sending in a low cross which forced Oviedo to hack clear, however it was a far from polished first half display from the hosts.
Scotland began the second-half brightly, with some neat play down the left by McKenna ending with a cross that narrowly evaded the head of Ritchie.
The hosts survived a let-off on 48 minutes though, as Bryan Ruiz cut in from the left before striking the crossbar with his acute strike.
McLeish started to ring the changes just shy of the hour mark, with disappointing debutants Cairney and McTominay replaced by Stuart Armstrong and Callum McGregor.
The latter made an immediate impact with an excellent threaded pass which set up Ritchie for a left-footed strike, with his effort palmed over by Real Madrid custodian Navas.
Scotland continued to show signs of promise, particularly down the left in setting up chances for McBurnie and Ritchie, but there was to be no way through for the home side.
SCOTLAND (3-4-3) – McGregor 6, Paterson 6, Robertson 8, Hanley 7, Mulgrew 6 (McGinn 82), McKenna 8, McTominay 6 (Armstrong 58), McDonald 5, McBurnie 7 (Phillips 77), Cairney 5 (McGregor 58), Ritchie 7 (Murphy 87). Subs not used – Archer, McLaughlin, Christie, Forrest, McGinn, Douglas, Murphy, Cummings, McLean, Fraser, Hendry.
COSTA RICA (3-4-3) – Navas 7, Acosta 6, Gonzalez 6, Duarte 6, Gamboa 6 (Smith 75), Oviedo 7 (Calvo 77), Borges 6, Guzman 6 (Tejeda 56), B Ruiz 7, Colindres 6 (Wallace 63), Urena 8 (Y Ruiz 69). Subs not used – Moreira, Briceno, Segura, Mitchell, Azofeifa, Waston, Gutierrez.
Referee – Tobias Stieler (Ger) 7
Attendance – 20,488
Man of the match – Scott McKenna (Scotland)