Striking resemblance?

Wednesday 5 September 2012

THE record has stood for 38 years, a testament to a nation's international footballing failings.

Scotland's Denis Law celebrates scoring against Northern Ireland in 1962, one of 30 goals for his country. Picture: Herald Archive

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Alan Campbell

Will anybody ever overtake Denis Law's record of 30 goals for Scotland? Kenny Dalglish did equal the mark, in almost twice the number of games, but since Law's departure from international football in 1974, no other Scot has managed even 20. To put this mediocrity into context, and without demeaning Law's excellent achievement, 72 nations, ranging from Brazil to Bahrain, have produced at least one player who has scored 31 international goals or more. We languish with Vietnam, Burkina Faso and – some consolation – Belgium.

Law scored his goals in 55 games, which is regarded by the Scottish Football Association's history archive as an "astonishing" achievement. Again to introduce some perspective, one of Law's near contemporaries, Gerd Muller, scored 68 in 62 matches for West Germany. Ferenc Puskas netted 80 in 84 for Hungary. The Iranian Ali Daei is the top international scorer of all time with 109 goals in 149 games. Lest anybody jump to the conclusion that none of this has any relevance to a country of Scotland's standing, Robbie Keane has scored 53 times in 120 games for the Republic of Ireland. His ratio of goals to games is not as good as Law's, but better than that of Dalglish. Would anybody dare to suggest he is a better footballer, or even finisher, than either of the Scots? There was one Scottish internationalist with a ratio even better than Muller's, but unfortunately Hughie Gallacher played only 20 times for his country. He still notched a truly astonishing 23 goals in these games played between 1925 and 1930. Gallacher, who was later to commit suicide, remains, rather dismally, Scotland's third top scorer of all time.As Craig Levein ponders whether to start with Kenny Miller or Jordan Rhodes against Serbia on Saturday, could we possibly be witnessing the birth of an international career which will see the Law and Dalglish record finally beaten? Not that the older man should be dismissed: Miller has a decent international record, converting 16 times in 60 games. But at 32 and now playing with the Vancouver Whitecaps, his career is on the descent. It is to Rhodes, who scored on his starting debut against Australia last month, that the future belongs.Law, who is a sprightly 72 and last week helped make the Champions League draw, says he is "extremely surprised" that his Scotland record still stands. "Especially," he points out, "given the amount of games there are nowadays. When I was playing it was three Home International games a year and a few World Cup qualifying games. That was about it."Although injuries also played a part, Law's assertion is borne out by the fact he played so relatively few times for Scotland despite making his debut in 1958 and playing his last game in 1974. That's a span of 16 years, two more than Dalglish, who amassed 102 games between 1972 and 1986.If it is wrong to put pressure on Rhodes, at the age of 22, to become the new Lawman, what does the master make of the Blackburn Rovers signing? "Jordan is an extremely good player," Law says, "and he scored a phenomenal amount of goals for my old club Huddersfield Town. I've only seen him play live once, when I was invited to Huddersfield for a game against Bournemouth. Now he has gone to Blackburn that is another step up for him."I wasn't surprised when he was given a start against Australia. He scored a very good goal, and that answered some of the questions about him having played most of his football in a lower league. The boy has also scored regularly for the under-21s, so he has done it at every level he has played at. Eventually my record will be beaten – there's no doubt about that. He can definitely be the one if he keeps improving."As Law affirms, both men started their Scotland careers when playing lower-league football with Huddersfield. Both scored on their first starts for Scotland. In what would be a happy portent if Rhodes' career followed the same path, Law's scoring ratio improved when he moved away from Huddersfield to Manchester City (twice), Torino and Manchester United. "That's because at Huddersfield I was an inside forward, which is like a midfield player nowadays," explains Law, who scored 227 goals in his 485 club games. "It was Matt Busby at Manchester United who put me up front, but I preferred being more involved in the game."Unlike some of Law's Scotland successors, who were as keen on scoring in nightclubs as they were on the pitch, Rhodes also has the advantage of appearing to be modest, well rounded and with a work ethic which could reap international rewards. Asked if it would be too much to expect Rhodes to step into a World Cup qualifying match, Law responds: "You never know with young players. Some can come into a huge game and it looks as if they've been playing at that level for years. Others just can't do it. I think Jordan belongs to the first category."

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