Player Ratings: Scotland 0-1 Argentina

Scotland:

McGregor: 6.5- The Rangers 'keeper made his first Hampden start, coming in for the crocked Craig Gordon. Saved with feet from Lavezzi and parried Mascherano's volley well. Otherwise, he generally did what he had to do, although his kicking was a tad wayward at times.

Hutton: 6- Playing high up the park, the Spurs man was lively. However, he gave away free-kicks and was guilty of overshooting his cross on more than one occasion.

Caldwell: 6- Booked for bundling over Tevez clumsily and was done for pace by Lavezzi a couple of times. Still, he ended up with the captaincy after the departures of Ferguson and McManus.

McManus: 6- Battered Lavezzi with a meaty challenge early on and didn't ease up. He always looked a half second off the pace and would have been booked in a competitive match. However, he didn't make any massive mistakes against very lively opposition.

Broadfoot: 6- Guilty of switching off a couple of times and getting caught out of position, although he was playing on the left. He was more impressive going forward and, to his credit, lasted the 90 minutes at a good tempo.

Brown: 7- The bullish maestro grew into the game. He did what he does best: breaking up play, winning 50-50 balls and playing sensible passes. Generally battled well and improved as the match wore on.

Hartley: 5.5- Was playing in a key role but gave the ball away all too easily, lasting an hour before being hooked.

Ferguson: 5.5- The skipper is severely lacking in games and fitness after undergoing ankle surgery during the summer. He lasted an hour and was fairly anonymous until that point.

Commons: 8.5- Provided a couple of decent crosses during the first half and really came into his own after the break. He mixed it up in the box, produced real quality from dead ball situations, ran at defenders and was by far the hosts' best player on the night.

McFadden: 6.5- Unsurprisingly, Scotland's big-game player was at the heart of their first decent chance, taking a difficult ball and forcing Demichelis to make a brave block. Gave the Bayern man real trouble, but started to fade and trooped off after 67 minutes.

Iwelumo: 4- The stiker was looking to prove himself after his Norway horror show, making his first start. However, he was isolated and the ball wouldn't stick to him, so he was the first player off at the interval.

SUBS: Strikers Clarkson and Miller were busy after coming on and will be fighting it out with the crocked Steven Fletcher for a starting place, especially after Iwelumo's meek showing. Defenders Alexander and Berra didn't let their side down after coming off the bench, while Scott Robertson was booked while winning his first cap and Maloney looked a little off-colour.

Argentina:

Carrizo: 5- The Lazio shot-stopper was looking to prove his worth and secure the No.1 jersey. In truth, he didn't have much to do, but neverthless looked a tad suspect coming for crosses. His chemistry with his defence, Demichelis in particular, was distinctly lacking and Maradona won't be sure of him just yet.

Zanetti: 6.5- The Inter man was comfortable coming forward and did so with powerful running. He couldn't be faulted, working tirelessly for 90 minutes.

Demichelis: 5- The Bayern Munich stopper blocked McFadden's decent effort midway through the first half, but struggled to keep tabs on the forward generally. He was by far the most stretched of the Argentine defenders and won't regard Maradona's debut as an outstanding day personally.

Heinze: 6- He was typically composed playing in the centre and entirely unflappable. The Real Madrid man wasted a couple of dangerously placed free-kicks, though.

Papa: 6- The Vélez Sársfield full-back was the only domestic starter in a star-studded side. Was keen to bomb forward from left-back and clearly possesses great skill. At the start of the second half, however, he went down easily under pressure from Brown and was roundly booed by the Tartan Army for the duration.

Rodriguez: 7.5- Atlético Madrid's Maxi was great. His perfectly timed run allowed him to open the scoring after eight minutes, slotting past McGregor. He then went on to put in an energetic display, running from deep often.

Mascherano: 7.5- Was always busy in the middle and a key part of the impressive Argentine passing game. His balls over the top were a joy to behold and he was strong throughout.

Gago: 7- Another gifted player for Maradona to use, Gago played 90 minutes in midfield, which was the most impressive area of the visitors' game. Might have been on the scoresheet early on, heading just wide from the first corner of the game.

Gutierrez: 7- Spiderman was involved in the wonderful move on eight minutes which unlocked the Scottish rearguard, assisting the opener. He worked very hard throughout, mainly on the left, and can go back to Newcastle having done himself a favour in terms of his international standing.

Lavezzi: 9- Fast and skilful, the Napoli man was the best player on the park, narrowly pipping Commons. His close-range effort forced McGregor to save with his feet and might have been in during the second half had the ref played an obvious advantage. Fantastic touches and pace at times, giving Caldwell in particular big problems.

Tevez: 7- The Red Devil's strong run cut through Scotland like a hot knife through butter and led to the early opener. He continued to find all sorts of space with his superior movement until half-time. However, he blasted one over early in the second half and started to fade badly as time went on.

SUBS: German Denis was the most dangerous of Maradona's token substitutions, but Gonzalez, Diaz and Sosa didn't have much time to impress.

Greg Ptolomey, Goal.com