Scotland 1 England, er, didn't

If progress in football is measured by the ability of a less than on-song team to grind out results against talented opposition (as is often said), Scotland's 1-0 victory against a lively South African side at Pittodrie says rather more about their development than England's 2-1 defeat to Germany at Wembley. In truth, England deserved a point against an experimental German side, but were thwarted by what may come t0 be known as "McLaren's luck". That and a goalkeeper drought which must have the likes of Alan Rough and Bobby Clark smiling. They and other Scottish keepers have had to endure years of mockery from Down South, fuelled by the legend of Banks, Shilton and others. The reality now, however, is that England do not have an indisputable world class keeper to drawn on, and are being forced to turn to a veteran to help - and one who has had more than a few question marks against him in the past, too. How McLaren's team must long to be able to choose someone of the quality of ex-Hearts sticks man Craig Gordon (pictured), recently poached to Sunderland by the Premier League money-machine.