Three members of Hibs’ 2016 Scottish Cup winning team started for Scotland in last night’s 2-0 defeat to World Cup bound Peru in Lima.
Lewis Stevenson (pictured above)and Dylan McGeouch both made their full international debuts whilst John McGinn won his eighth cap.
Former Hibs’ manager Alex McLeish selected an experimental side for the friendly at the Estadio Nacional de Lima where the home fans delivered a World Cup send-off to the players in a stifling hot temperature.
After a comfortable 37 minutes, Peru who are ranked 11th in the world by FIFA took the lead following a mix up between goalkeeper Jordan Archer and captain Charlie Mulgrew. Jefferson Farfan took advantage of the confusion and his shot was blocked by Scott McKenna’s arm.
Christian Cueva scored the resultant penalty kick and the Scots went into the break 1-0 down.
Farfan added the second goal two minutes after the interval and the hosts held on to secure the victory.
McGinn who had a quiet game by his normally high standards was replaced by former Hearts defender Callum Paterson after 62 minutes with the score 2-0 to the hosts.
McGeouch lasted 13 more minutes before being replaced by Graeme Shinnie of Aberdeen.
After the game McLeish praised his players, particularly the debutants.
He told BBC Scotland: “I’m proud of the mentality they showed in a cauldron of a place.They embraced it.
“Bringing these guys into the team for the first time, in your head being anxious about hoping they don’t make big mistakes, and they handled it really well.
“It was hot out on the surface, especially when you’re doing a lot of chasing around, which the Peruvians made us do.
“I was very pleased with the first half, we really contained them. They’re a super team, they move it about well and they know each other inside out, the movement, the strength of them, their individual skills.
“To lose the goal the way we did just before half-time was a shame. I was pleased with the guys despite all the call-offs we’ve had, bringing new guys in. They have to be allowed to make a mistake or two.
“I’m gutted, I was really disappointed to see the first goal go in, it was very basic, one man runs into the box in behind. We knew Farfan did that, we showed the players, but we got sucked out at a vital moment and that proved costly for us.
“The players were very well organised, we had some really good displays on the defensive side. Working out how to get ourselves into goalscoring situations is the main key for us.
“We had a good chance towards the end, if big Oli [McBurnie] had just pulled his left peg back he could have drilled it into the corner and it would have given us a lifeline.
“The conditions may be a factor, because some of the guys were beginning to breathe heavily towards the end of the game.
“We’re going to lose a couple of players now. Lewis Stevenson is going away, we had an agreement with him to play the first game, Matt Phillips is going back to England for an engagement there, which we agreed a couple of months ago.
“It’s a squad in which everybody deserves a cap.”
Stevenson who has made 405 appearances for Hibs was rewarded for his longevity with a testimonial match against Sunderland at the start of last season and donated much of the proceeds to local charities including.
The popular Fifer made history in 2016 by becoming the first Hibs’ player to win both League Cup and Scottish Cup winners medals.
McGeouch’s contract ends in a few days time and he has been linked to a number of clubs including Blackburn Rovers who are managed by former Hibs’ boss Tony Mowbray, Queens Park Rangers and closer to home Aberdeen. His performances earned him the fans’ player of the year’ award and Neil Lennon recently suggested that he could still remain with the club.
McGinn’s future is also unclear. The highly rated midfielder has one year left on his Hibs’ contract and the club are likely to cash in during the summer despite former club St Mirren being due a significant proportion of any transfer fee.
Celtic, Rangers, Leeds, Sunderland and Fulham have all been linked with him in recent weeks.
Scotland now face Mexico at 1am BST on Sunday morning.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
