Rhodes Scholar

Last updated : 11 October 2011 By Ed_scottishfitba

EEP_8189Last night Scotland's Under 21s had to fight back twice to secure a 2-2 draw with old enemies Austria. Thanks to two goal hero Jordan Rhodes, who has now notched up five goals in two games, Billy Stark charges maintain their unbeaten record in the UEFA Under 21 Championship groups stage unbeaten record. Things could have been on so different and a different patter to the game in Paisley could have been set early in the game if the goal machine called Rhodes had taken two chance handed to him on  plate early in the game. Both were down the left side of the pitch, which both sides seemed to favour for their most productive moves. Both were when Rhodes was put though to beat offside and he was one-on-one with the keeper. The first he tried to blast past Heinz Lindner when a side foot pass of the ball would have found the net. The second he decided to side foot which Lindner managed to parry away. No matter but it would have made the second half a bit easier to endure as Scotland were required to put more effort in the defence of their goal after the break.

Andreas Weimann
 
The Austrians were quick on the break and tough tackling and occasionally Scotland gave them too much space. Danger-man Andreas Weinmann was the the thorn in Scotland side and it was he who scored the goal with a fine shot after everybody backed off him as he approached the penalty area. The second was a mistake of not defending the near post for a cross. Deni Alar was not looking fro a second invitation to knock the ball home with a close range header. The first half may have belonged to Scotland in terms of football played and procession but the second was more even with perhaps the visitors edging it as they had upped their game for the second 45.

EEP_8212
 
After the game coach Stark was philosophical about the result. He said: "The only thing we can assess is the performance. Lots of things, in terms of the result, you don't have lot of control over. So from that point of view I was delighted in how we played the game. We created some good chances at good times in the game. You really need to take them at international level, but the thing I was pleased about apart from the performance was the spirit they showed coming back against a decent side. We can look at the goals we lost and I always feel they were avoidable. They might say the same thing but it was a good spectacle, the game itself so from that point of view we worked hard on creating and if before the game you had said we would get that amount of chance I would have bitten your hand off. We had three penalty shouts. I think the referee did quite well tonight and obviously you are a bit coloured in your view whether they are penalties or not. One or two of them were really good shouts and on another night when you got them it would change the complexion of the game. I felt if we could get our noses in front we would get there but we could not quite get the final touch."

 

Billy Stark
 
The international scene is still a new arena of Rhodes and he was eager to please in the post-game interviews. It was no suprise that Rhodes was the press's pick of the squad to speak to and he came over as a nice guy who is enjoying the new challenges. Of his experience of playing for Scotland,  Rhodes said: "I feel that I am a more intelligent player now. It has been difficult over the last three months getting used to the Scotland set up, being away from home, sharing room etc. However, the things I am learning from Billy (Stark) and the rest of the coaches will benefit me in the long run. I have to get used to playing a different game when playing international football. It is a more patient way of playing football."

 

Jordan Rhodes