Scot Gemmill insisted he was satisfied in Spain after a creditable draw with Euro Finalists Norway.
And it could have been even better for the young Scots after Manchester City striker Dire Mebude hit the inside of the post with the last kick of the ball.
The young Scots survived a first half battering near Benidorm, but improved after the break.
Gemmill's side had to rely on several decent saves from Manchester City keeper Cieran Slicker, but significantly improved after making nine subs in the second half in La Nucia.
And they nearly won it in injury time when Etihad colleague Mebude hit the inside of the post.
Gemmill said: "I did expect Dire to score because he is such a good finisher. He scored goals for his club and in training. I am sure he will be disappointed too.
"But it was a good game for us. It was needed, we got four more debuts and I feel the players took a step forward in terms of the new age group looking ahead.
"Tactically, you could see them trying to do what we asked them to do. Physically, they competed.
"I asked the team to be harder to beat and not to concede goals and I saw some top performances defensively.
"I am really positive after that.
"The game opened up after the break, but we definitely struggled to solve the problem in the first half in terms of possession.
"So we did speak to them at half time and all credit to the players. The players are not fully match fit so it was just common sense to spread the minutes throughout the squad."
Scotland were pinned back for most of the first half and Slicker kept Scotland in at with a string of excellent saves before the interval.
Gemmill rang the changes at the break and introduced three debutants - Celtic duo Matthew Anderson and Ben McPherson and Dundee top scorer Lyall Cameron, with Hearts' Connor Smith also coming on.
Scotland made another five subs just after the hour mark with Azeem Abdulai, Liam Smith, Lewis Neilson, Ryan Duncan and Mebude all coming on.
King - the only outfield player who wasn't subbed off - went down with five minutes left with cramp, but the Scots saw out the remainder of the game with ten men.
And they came agonisingly close to winning it in injury time when Mebude wriggled free in the box and saw his effort cannon back off the inside of the post.
Scotland under-21s (3-4-1-2): Slicker; Mullen (L Smith 62), Morrison (Neilson 62), King; Mulligan (McPherson 46), Barron (Duncan 62), Fiorini (Abdulai 62), Reid (Anderson 46); Summers (C Smith 46); Conway (Mebude 62), Bowie (Cameron 46).
