My tears of joy overshadowed glory goal.. I’ll be greet again
SAYS RYAN CHRISTIE
RYAN CHRISTIE was in tears after his last play-off goal for Scotland and would love it if they are flowing again next week – even if it means people forget if he scored.
The Bournemouth star found the net against Serbia in the Euro 2020 play-off final before the Scots qualified on penalties.
Christie, substituted late on, then hit the headlines with his tearful postmatch interview, which illustrated just what it meant to the players.
He refuses to rule out a repeat if he helps Scotland beat Ukraine to set up a shoot-out with Wales for a place at the Qatar World Cup.
Recalling that night in Serbia, Christie said: “It is right up there with my favourite occasions in my career so far.
“The tears afterwards, though, overshadowed my goal. I killed myself a bit.
“I was buzzing to get on the scoresheet and I remember coming back from the celebrations in the corner thinking I’ve scored the goal.
“Then I looked up at the clock and there was still another half-hour to play. I had to calm myself down.
“It was a crazy game. It was horrendous to sit through it but looking back you probably wouldn’t have it any other way. It would be nice to add to that against Ukraine.”
There has been a lot of uncertainty over the playoff following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The original game was postponed in March and there was uncertainty until next Wednesday’s date was confirmed.
Former Celtic star Christie admits that the excitement is starting to build again as Scotland look to qualify for their first World Cup since 1998.
He said: “I am excited. We didn’t really know when this game was going to come because of the complications in March. It is nice to have the date set.”
The 27-year-old reckons reaching the Qatar finals would be the cherry on top of a perfect season after helping the Cherries reclaim their spot in the Premier League.
He added: “It has been good, really good.
“It has been a while since the season finished. I managed to get a bit of a break and now it is time to get the legs going again.
“We have a massive game against Ukraine and then hopefully another one after that.
“It would be a really good season for me if we could get a couple of positive results.”