Scots heading for their peak

The huge odds against Scotland winning the World Cup are unlikely to be cut to the merely large on the back of this sound performance, but anyone looking for reasons to bet that Craig Brown's side will qualify for the knock-out stages in France would have found it here at the Giants Stadium on Saturday evening.

Having arrived carrying the weighty baggage of an unconvinced home public, Brown once again provided evidence of his extraordinary habit of getting international players to peak at precisely the right time.

It took an hour for the Scots to be affected by the rigours of their training schedule, by which time they had not only appeared superior to Colombia, but had proved it by carving out a 2-1 lead which could have been even greater.

The only mishap during those 60 minutes of composed defending, controlled midfield play and menacing attacking was the awkward challenge by Christian Dailly on Wilmer Cabrera, who was heading out of the box on the right when the Derby man gave him a nudge. It brought about the penalty from which Carlos Valderrama gave Colombia a 21stminute lead.

That lapse was not be repeated as Dailly went on to be one of the most impressive players on the field. Playing at left wing-back, he again exhibited the versatility of a man who was in the Dundee United firstteam at 16 and who, playing as a striker, a midfielder or a defender, won a total of 34 Scotland under-21 caps and remains their most capped player at that level.

He is likely to revert to central defence - Brown's preference - in the World Cup, joining Colin Hendry and Colin Calderwood, with Tom Boyd moving back to the wide position on the left.

Dailly is one of the Scots who have come through since Euro 96 to make up what Brown believes is "a better group than we had two years ago". The other is Paul Lambert, who continues to impress with his command of the game, for club and country.

Every time Lambert plays, the uninformed observer would have little difficulty in identifying him as the one man in the side who possesses a European Cup winner's medal, won while with Borussia Dortmund.

Brown, cooing over many good Scottish performances on the night, could not resist highlighting the Celtic midfielder whose calming influence in the holding role will surely be invaluable in the World Cup opener against Brazil. Given the absence of the injured and unwell Kevin Gallacher, Scotland's goals predictably came from midfielders. John Collins hit a rightfoot, 18-yard drive, from Darren Jackson's lay-off, to the left of Miguel Calero and Craig Burley struck a left-foot shot, from Jackson's pass, which went in off the goalkeeper.

They came in the 33rd and 43rd minutes, with Freddie Rincon equalising 10 minutes from the end with a low drive after Faustino Asprilla had darted through the Scottish defence and watched his shot hit the righthand post, run along the line and strike the other upright, whence it bounced to his team-mate.

Scotland move on to Washington for their last warm-up match, against the US on Saturday.