World Cup debutants Cape Verde hold on for draw against Spain
The Tartan Army's enthusiastic presence in Boston has been a highlight of the World Cup so far. However, on the pitch, it was Cape Verde's impressive draw against European champions Spain that made a significant impact on the tournament.
In their first-ever World Cup match, Cape Verde, ranked 67th globally and with a population under 500,000, delivered a heroic defensive performance to contain a star-studded Spanish team widely regarded as potential two-time world champions.
Scotland understands that if they can replicate Cape Verde's result and secure a point in Friday's Group C match against Morocco at Boston Stadium, they will be nearly assured of advancing to the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time.
What lessons can Scotland draw from Cape Verde's remarkable performance?
'Defend like lions'
Grant Hanley and Jack Hendry performed well in Scotland's opening game, making crucial interventions as Haiti pressed for an equalizer after John McGinn's goal.
Whether head coach Steve Clarke maintains that centre-back pairing or reintroduces the fit-again Scott McKenna – potentially switching to a back five to include all three – the entire Scottish defensive unit must exhibit the fierce determination to protect their goal that Cape Verde demonstrated so effectively against Spain.
"One of the big things Cape Verde work at, and the manager has talked about it, is the culture of the country itself and making sure that everybody buys into that. If you do that, everyone will work for each other," said former Scotland winger Pat Nevin after covering the match at Atlanta Stadium for BBC Radio 5 Live.
"Boy, what a sight of players working for each other we saw. They spent the vast majority of the game on their own 18-yard line, not all of it, and when they broke, they were brave and they broke in numbers.
"To do that and keep that level of concentration, you don't do that if you're a bunch of individuals, you only do that if you're a group, if you're a team, if you believe in each other. And it shone through.
"I watched Sidny Cabral start the game and thought, 'oh, my goodness, there's a disaster waiting to happen' because of the way he was tackling - but he got every one of them right.
"You look at Diney Borges, again, he looked like he was a kitten at the start of the game. By the end of the game, he was a lion."
Full house at Scotland training
Former Scotland defender Willie Miller also praised Cape Verde's defensive discipline and concentration in shutting down Spain, qualities Scotland will need against Morocco's attacking threats.
"Cape Verde had the 4-5-1 formation, they defended deep, they closed the opposition down very quickly," said Miller, who played in the 1982 and 1986 World Cups.
"Sometimes you have to have a little bit of good fortune. The goalkeeper was in such good form as well and didn't look like he was going to lose anything but it's a long time to go with that formation.
"You tend to get mentally fatigued when you're doing most of your work without the ball and I think that could have been a problem - but it wasn't a problem for Cape Verde.
"They had organisation, the team spirit, the shape, a goalkeeper in fine form, restricting any space between your defence, midfield and forwards, and then just had that belief that they could get it over the line and get the draw. That's what we need against Morocco."
Retain an attacking threat
While defensive organisation and resilience formed the foundation of Cape Verde's performance, they maintained some attacking threat on the counter-attack, particularly late in the game, to alleviate pressure on their defense.
They nearly secured a historic victory, with defender Borges narrowly missing a late header and several late counters threatening Spain as they pushed forward seeking a winner.
Scotland must provide Morocco's defense with challenges to avoid being pinned near their own goal area.
Former Scotland winger Neil McCann believes Ben Gannon-Doak, a standout against Haiti, will be vital in advancing Scotland's attack.
"Ben Gannon-Doak is obviously a very big weapon for Scotland in terms of how he eliminates people in the wide area," McCann said.
"He's shown in his Scotland career already that he can play off the left, off the right, and standing people up and just going past them like they're not there.
"The one thing I want to see him work on is his final ball. Getting past people generally isn't a problem. It's what you do once you're in that position.
"It doesn't matter who he's playing against, whether it's [Denmark's Patrick] Dorgu, whether it's Achraf Hakimi against Morocco, I still think he'll create chances."
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