Crawford invades Figo's space

Scotland's hope has zest to test the best in Portugal

Luis Figo and Steve Crawford may seem an unlikely case study. One cost £38 million, the other a mere £400,000. Just who provides greater value for money will become more evident on Wednesday night in Portugal.

The two men from polar extremes of the football world will share the same stage in the Primeria de Maia Stadium in Braga as Scotland undertake another one of those high-profile friendly fixtures that proved so damaging to Berti Vogts' initial reputation as manager.

Yet it is the reputations of Figo and Crawford that will, perhaps, come under the closest scrutiny. Both men changed clubs in 2000, but for those vastly different sums. Now, though, as the post-Bosman market begins to put greater worth on prudence, it seems that Crawford's stock is rising in direct proportion to the doubts in Figo's column.

The number of zeros on the cheque that Real Madrid wrote out to Barcelona has added up to one big fat zero in the eyes of many. Figo left his zest behind in the Nou Camp, said the whispers last season, a theory that became louder when Portugal and their superstar flopped in the World Cup finals during the summer.

Crawford, whose move from Hibernian to Dunfermline a week after Figo's barely rated a mention in the Scottish press, spent his close season with his family at EuroDisney. Each night, he would put on his training shoes and undertake a punishing run around the holiday complex: it has paid off, helping the 28-year-old to his best-ever start to a season and hoisting Dunfermline into third place in the Scottish Premier League.

Today, the Fife club will host Hearts in the BBC's live match at East End Park, but anyone who has seen Crawford this term knows of his growing maturity. His goal in midweek which helped secure a 3-2 win a way to Dundee put him level with John Hartson on 11 goals – only Celtic's Henrik Larsson has scored more – and Dundee's manager, Jim Duffy, who bought Crawford while in charge of Hibernian, declared: "If Stevie played for Celtic or Rangers, he would get 20-30 goals a season."

This is the first time in Figo's career that doubts have been cast about a player blessed with sublime talent, who helped Portugal win the World Under-19 Cup in 1991. Crawford, on the other hand, is only now escaping the habit of making a bad first impression.

He earned his first cap in 1995 while still with Raith Rovers, and despite scoring against Ecuador, was left in cold storage by Craig Brown for six years. At Millwall, he antagonised the club's fan-with-a-microphone, Danny Baker, who used his radio show to demand the Scot's repatriation north of the border. At Hibernian, he fell out with the then- manager, Alex McLeish, over wages.

However, the worst mistake was missing from point-blank range against Fabien Barthez and failing to give Scotland the lead against France in Berti Vogts' baptism in Paris. Crawford paid for his sin with omission from the next four games until his display in Iceland last month threw the Scots a Euro 2004 lifeline, following it up with a goal three days later in the 3-1 friendly victory over Canada.

"What happened in France was humiliating," he reflects. "However, the standard of French play in that first 45 minutes was a lesson I will never forget.

"When I came into the Scotland squad as a young boy at Raith Rovers, I thought at the time that bigger things were around the corner. When you are young, you are naïve. You never see the downside of the game.

"That was why my goal against Canada meant so much to me. It was my first game on home soil. That was a burning ambition of mine. Indeed, it was joke among my family that if 'Flower of Scotland' was played and I was in the line-up, then I would need a box of tissues. I am proud to be Scottish and I found it hard when people were having a go at the team after the Faroe Islands result."

Crawford's appearance as a substitute on that ignominious day in Toftir breathed a bit of life into the Scots, and prompted Vogts to offer him a second chance. He will play alongside Dundee United's Steven Thompson in Portugal, a reflection that both have struck a rich vein of goals for their clubs since the German showed faith in them.

"It's early days for our partnership and we need time to flourish," said Crawford. "I just hope I don't have to wait another seven years before I score my next goal for Scotland."