Bolivia v Scotland — The Football Pink

There are evenings in football when the result speaks loudly enough that no elaboration is required, and this was one of them. Scotland, in the early hours of a World Cup that has already offered its share of surprises, arrived in New Jersey with something to prove and left having proved it comprehensively.

Steve Clarke will not say as much publicly — he rarely does — but the margin of victory here carried a meaning beyond the scoreline recorded elsewhere in these pages. This was a performance that announced intent. Not the forced, slightly desperate intent of a side trying to convince itself, but the quieter, more persuasive kind that comes from a team moving in the same direction at the same moment.

Bolivia were not disgraced. Scotland were simply better, in ways that were visible and sustained across the full ninety minutes. That distinction matters, and seasoned observers will have noted it.

Whether this marks the beginning of something genuinely significant for Clarke's side, or merely a fine night in a tournament full of them, the matches ahead will answer in due course.