The naked truth is this friendly was always going to be the warm-up act ahead of the star turn in Dublin.
Scotland did what they had to do against Qatar at Easter Road and now they will travel in decent shape to the Aviva Stadium next Saturday to take on the Republic of Ireland in the crunch Euro 2016 Group D qualifier.
The hosts grabbed the only goal of the game five minutes before half-time, perhaps startled into action by a streaker who had recently raced on to the pitch.
It was a well-struck low shot from Matt Ritchie the Bournemouth man’s first goal for his country – and it proved to be the winner.
With the Irish game in mind, manager Gordon Strachan’s selection was always going to be of interest.
The biggest surprise was Charlie Mulgrew, the man-of-the-match against the Irish at Celtic Park in a midfield role, slotting into the centre of defence along with Gordon Greer.
Ikechi Anya was at right back, with Ritchie operating in front of him on the right.
As expected, former Dundee man Craig Forsyth was in the left-back role as ex-Dundee United star Andy Robertson sat on the bench.
In the build-up, the match had been mired in controversy because of the appalling human rights record in Qatar, with the death toll among workers building World Cup 2022 venues raising real concerns in political circles and even threatening a boycott of the fixture by supporters.
There was also the whole FIFA corruption crisis to contend with, with a real prospect of a forced revote of both the Qatari award and the decision to host the 2018 event in Russia.
Maybe it explained some of the empty seats and the off-field issues couldn’t have made it comfortable for the Scots.
However, Strachan’s men got on with the job of playing the game.
James Forrest tried his luck on three minutes but his shot was deflected.
The Scots went closer on 18 minutes when a terrific cutback from Forsyth was met by a snap-shot from Steven Naismith which was held by keeper Lecomte Claude Amine.
The hosts were warming up now and Anya screwed his strike wide of goal a minute later before Naismith brought a fine save out of Amine on 23 minutes.
Mulgrew was just inches wide with a header off the resultant corner from Shaun Maloney as the Scots knocked on the door.
Midway through the half, Ritchie caught a Forsyth cross on the volley and the ball just whizzed wide of the Qatari net then only a great saving tackle from Ahmed Abdelrhman halted Maloney.
Seven minutes before half-time the game was interrupted by a streaker, who stayed on the park for what seemed like an age before the stewards finally escorted him off the park.
With the naked bloke off the park, Scotland took the lead with a fine goal on 40 minutes. It was a low strike from the edge of the box that was blasted home by Ritchie’s left foot after an excellent run by Naismith.
It was almost two in first-half stoppage time when Naismith took a pass from James McArthur and clipped the ball over Amine only to see it hit the far post.
The Scots made a couple of changes at the break as Gordon Marshall got his chance in goal and James Morrison replaced McArthur.
Naismith headed into sidenetting then Scotland should have had a penalty kick on 52 minutes when the Everton striker was shoved in the back by Abdelkarim Hassan as he prepared to shoot. Belgian referee Sebastien Delferiere said no and to make matters worse the former Rangers man was injured by the fall.
Adam, Darren Fletcher and Leigh Griffiths all got their chance just before the hour, then ex-Dundee United man Johnny Russell followed them a little later.
Qatar broke away on 75 minutes and Gordon had to be alert to push Hassan Khalid Alhaydos’ shot around the post.
Russell almost got his name on the scoresheet but his shot was saved by Amine with five minutes to go.
The game was then marred by another pitch invasion, although thankfully the guy was fully-clothed this time.
Russell had another chance late on then an Adam shot was turned into the net by Griffiths but the flag was up for offside.
Attendance: 14,279.
Scotland: Marshall (Gordon 46), Anya, Forsyth, Greer, Mulgrew, Maloney (Adam 59), Forrest (Russell 74), Brown (D. Fletcher 59), Naismith (Griffiths 59), McArthur (Morrison 46), Ritchie. Subs not used: Samson, Whittaker, S. Fletcher, Martin, Robertson, Bannan, Berra, Reynolds.
Qatar: Amine, Fadlalla, Kasola Mohammed, Thaimm, Alhaydos, Hatim A. Mohamed, Tresor, Boudiaf, Elsayed, Abdelrhman, Muntari.
Referee: Sebastien Delferiere (Belgium).