UNDER-21s PUT FRENCH TO SWORD
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SCOT Gemmill last night hailed his youngsters after they stunned their hosts at the Toulon Tournament and secured Scotland’s first win over France at any level since James McFadden’s famous 2007 winner in Paris.
Oliver Burke’s first-half strike capped a superb display by the Under-21s, with 16-year-old Chelsea starlet Billy Gilmour looking particularly composed and assured in an impressive debut.
This win in Salon De Provence was no fluke, with the young Scots dominating the first period of the match. And although it was more of a backsagainst-the-wall performance after the break, they hung on for victory and are now set to qualify for the semi-finals for the second year in a row on Saturday if they can defeat a South Korea side who have lost each of their first two group games.
Head coach Gemmill said: ‘It’s brilliant for the players. It was a solid performance and it was all about them being good enough to execute the game plan. They’ve stood up to the challenge. ‘The intelligence of the players was brilliant and so was their willingness to work. You don’t win games like that by chance. It’s not just about energy or technical level — you have to get everything right. And the goalie has got to come up with a big save at the right time. ‘I hope they can use this to push forward. I think it’s fair to say it was a better win than the one we got against Brazil last year. The young players in the team are here on merit — and you could see that tonight.’ Addressing the polished display of former Rangers starlet Gilmour, who was the youngest player to feature for the Under-21s since Islam Feruz in 2012, Gemmill said: ‘Billy had a really effective and influential game, not only on the ball but in terms of distance covered and his positional sense.
‘You could even see him offering instruction and advice to other players. He wouldn’t be here if we weren’t fully confident in his ability.
‘We shouldn’t be surprised, but it’s great when they take the opportunity and it’s great for us to be in a position to give him the opportunity.’
Gemmill made two changes from the side who drew 1-1 with Togo in last Sunday’s opening game, with Rangers keeper Robby McCrorie — brother of Ross — replacing Celtic’s Ross Doohan in goal and Gilmour starting.
Scotland took a deserved lead five minutes before the interval when Burke got on the end of a Fraser Hornby knock-on from an enormous clearance from McCrorie. The West Brom star accelerated into the box and drove a powerful angled drive past Dimitry Bertaud into the corner of the net.
Gemmill’s side dropped deeper and deeper in the second half but, for all France’s possession, it took until 11 minutes from the end for McCrorie actually to make his first save of the game when he leapt to his right to claw away a header from Angers’ Wilfried Kanga.
St Johnstone’s Jason Kerr then had his heart in his mouth when his sliced clearance looped up and landed on the roof of the net.
But that was the last scare for the young Scots, who held on for a brilliant victory. SCOTLAND (4-2-3-1): Subs not used: