Shankland shines, familiar flaws & Haiti warning - what we learned from Scotland win

ByAndy Burke

BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter at Hampden

Two goals for Lawrence Shankland. A first international goal for 19-year-old Findlay Curtis. An accomplished Scotland debut for another teenager in Tyler Fletcher.

But there was also the cruel loss of Billy Gilmour to injury, ruling the midfielder out of the World Cup, a slow start, ponderous defending and a warning from a familiar face about what awaits in the United States.

There was plenty to ponder from Scotland's 4-1 win over 10-man Curacao at Hampden on Saturday.

Here, BBC Sport Scotland runs through some of the outstanding questions.

Despite his free-scoring form for Hearts over the past few seasons, Lawrence Shankland has struggled to establish himself for his country.

Only four of his 18 Scotland appearances before this came as a starter, but he made a compelling case to be the man who leads the line at the World Cup here.

The 30-year-old has one key quality that sets him apart from Lyndon Dykes, Che Adams, George Hirst and Ross Stewart, and it's a pretty important one – pure goal-scoring instincts.

After a quiet first half during which he dropped too deep looking to get involved in the build-up play, Shankland came alive, netting two excellent strikes inside the penalty box.

So has he earned Clarke's trust as a starter rather than a finisher of games?

"Lawrence is a good player, I've never had any doubts about that," the head coach said. "I know you guys [in the media] don't think that, but I've never had any doubts about Lawrence and what he can bring to the squad.

"I thought we struggled to get Lawrence into the game first half, I felt he was coming a little bit too deep whereas Lawrence's strength is obviously in the box.

"Even the set-piece goal that we got, the delivery into him wasn't great but he still managed to dig it out, so his two finishes are pretty much typical Lawrence Shankland."

Finlay Curtis enjoyed an outstanding end to the Scottish Premiership season, his goals helping loan club Kilmarnock avoid the threat of relegation.

That form propelled him into the World Cup squad and the 19-year-old Rangers winger does not look satisfied to go to the United States as a bit-part option or simply to enjoy the experience.

His introduction was the spark Scotland needed after a very uncomfortable 40 minutes or so in which Curacao were arguably the better side and decent value for their 1-0 lead.

Curtis' movement, neat first touch and left-foot finish brought the equaliser and he drew the foul that allowed Ryan Christie to slam home the fourth from the penalty spot.

"That finish typifies his confidence - one touch, no look at the goal because he knows where they are, and pulls the trigger," said Kilmarnock manager Neil McCann.

"It continues the brilliant goalscoring form he had with us. He's in that type of place mentally with his confidence, and physically too, he already looks comfortable out there.

"That will give him a massive boost."

Ben Gannon-Doak showed flashes of pace and purpose in the first half but the end product too often let him down.

Curtis may not have the searing pace of the Bournemouth man, but with Clarke unlikely to find room in the starting team for both, might his decisiveness in the final third give him the edge?

Curacao's Tahith Chong will likely remember his wonderful opening goal at Hampden for the rest of his days, but it's one Scotland's centre-back pairing won't want to see again.

Scott McKenna got caught under the ball and out of position from the initial long ball up to halfway and from there John Souttar was outpaced and then beaten on the inside as Chong tucked away in impressive style.

McKenna and Souttar are solid defenders, but the latter in particular is more suited to winning aerial balls and defending his box rather than dealing with the movement of pacy forwards.

When you consider the quality of attackers Scotland will be facing at the World Cup - especially against Morocco and Brazil - the centre-back pairing will be an area that Clarke will look very closely at.

After a solid showing against Ivory Coast in March, Dom Hyam did little wrong in his second-half outing on Saturday, albeit the tide had well and truly turned once the visitors were reduced to 10 men.

Gilmour's face said it all when he fell to the turf late in the first half after making a tackle.

A knee injury on the eve of the squad departure has robbed the 24-year-old of a place on the plane for America.

Tyler Fletcher is the late replacement but has just 45 minutes of international football under his belt.

However, midfield is the strongest area of the squad and Clarke has very good options.

Lewis Ferguson and Kenny McLean know the deep-lying role well while Ryan Christie has played his best football for Bournemouth in a central position, although he has often been asked to play wider for Scotland.

Scott McTominay and John McGinn have played further back throughout their careers, but Clarke will surely want his leading scorers in more advanced positions.

Those five have 301 caps between them.

While Gilmour's composure will be missed in the middle of the park, he started just two of the six qualifiers, missing the final two through injury.

A 4-1 win over Curacao, who are ranked one place higher in the world than Haiti, should give confidence for a positive start to Scotland's World Cup campaign.

Curacao also beat Haiti 5-1 in qualifyin, so all signs point to a Scotland win in their group opener. Right?

It is not quite as simple as that, according to Curacao head coach Dick Advocaat.

"Haiti, we beat them 5-1, but it was five attacks, five goals," the Dutchman said. "They had 20 attacks and no goals. They have a good side, to be fair. But 11 against 11 is always a different game.

"They have some strong, fast players, but Scotland do as well. Scotland has some good young Scottish players, so they can surprise as well."