Attention grabber
How Griffiths’ stunning Hampden brace changed perceptions of his worth as a top-level operator
It’s about folk just opening their eyes and seeing what’s in front of them
OTHERS end a bad day with a glass of wine, walking the dog before an episode of House of Cards. Leigh Griffiths, however, chooses to lift his spirits by rewatching the stunning free-kicks which changed his life.
Ask him how often he watches his goals against England from that epic 2-2 Hampden draw back in June and the Scotland striker grins.
‘I couldn’t tell you,’ he admits. ‘Whenever I’m in a bad mood, coming home from training or after a game or whatever, I’ll put that on and it’ll make me smile. It means a lot to me but it wasn’t just that, it was the magnitude of the game.
‘To score twice against anybody for your country would be good, but to do it against the Auld Enemy was magic. It’s something I will never forget.’
Most conversations with the Celtic striker tend to wind up now in the same place. Scotland’s national stadium in the summer. Picking over the strikes that flummoxed goalkeeper Joe Hart.
That frantic two-minute spell had less impact on Scotland’s hopes of reaching the World Cup finals than they might have. Harry Kane made sure of that. Victory in Lithuania tomorrow night remains essential for the national team to have any chance of making the play-offs.
Yet, for Griffiths, they were transformational. His first international goals — he hadn’t scored for Scotland in 12 previous appearances — were seconds away from securing the national team’s most significant result in years.
In an instant, they changed how people perceive him.
On Sky Sports billboards promoting the new season, his image from that day beams out across the nation. After years of being dismissed as an ‘SPFL striker’ incapable of scoring the needful for Celtic and Scotland at the very highest level, the striker is now edging towards an elusive status. That of the main man.
‘Good…’ he laughs. ‘Regardless of what club you support, any Scotland fan is going to be happy for you scoring for their country.
‘They’re always complimentary about how I played in that game and how those free-kicks went in.’
It took time to reach this point. The rise of Leigh Griffiths has been a slow burner.
Signing for Celtic in January 2012, the reaction of Parkhead supporters was, at best, lukewarm. Had his name been Griffakis or Griffovski, he’d have been welcomed with open arms, but Scots have to work a little harder for their acclaim.
Scoring in the Champions League or for the national team, they claimed, was beyond him. Five years later, the myopia has lifted.
‘It’s not about proving people wrong,’ says Griffiths. ‘It’s about folk just opening their eyes and seeing what they’ve got in front of them.
‘For the first six months under Ronny (Deila), he wasn’t happy with the way things were going and when he gave me a chance, I proved myself.
‘It was the same when he brought Nadir Ciftci in and I had to do it again. Then people said: “You’ll have to prove yourself under Brendan Rodgers” — but people forget that I started well and if I’d never got injured, Moussa (Dembele) would have been kept out of the team.
‘But I couldn’t fault Moussa’s contribution after I got injured and it was harder for me to get in. I’ve started this season well and I hope that continues without any injuries.’
Whatever doubts others harboured, he never shared them. During Scottish football’s halcyon years, strikers were usually gallus, cocksure types. They believed they could score against anyone and often did. In a good place ahead of today’s flight to Vilnius, Griffiths fancies himself to score against anyone in any competition.
‘I know myself that I’m good enough,’ he insists. ‘And when you speak to my team-mates, they say I’m good enough.
‘I’ve never had a manager say I wasn’t good enough. So I am always on the training pitch when I’m fit, trying to work on my weaknesses and trying to get better.
‘You’ve seen over the last 18 months, working with the Celtic manager, that my game has come on leaps and bounds.’
The drive for improvement and goalscoring perfection is relentless. Taking time to find his feet with Scotland, he still beats himself up over the chances missed.
He blew a decent opportunity
in the 1-1 draw with Lithuania at home. Against Slovenia, he was presented with an open goal and smashed the ball against the bar.
‘Yeah, I seem to miss a lot of chances,’ he admits. ‘But I seem to put a lot of them away, as well.
‘I should have scored in that Lithuania game. There was a cross from the left-hand side and I should have anticipated the defender was going to miss it — but I didn’t.
‘The ball came to me and my header was like a pass back. If I was in form, the chance goes in.’
Another miss from the current campaign has also lodged itself in his mind.
‘I thought I played well against Slovenia, albeit I missed one of the worst chances I have ever missed,’ he says. ‘But, apart from that, I thought my link-up play was good. I tried to bring others in. At this level, you need that.
‘I spoke to my manager at my club and he said my game has gone to a different level since I came back in the summer.’
The improvement might be related to June 10. And two swings of his left-foot 20 yards from goal. One as good as the other.
The free-kicks obscured his all-round game against England, a tireless display of running and selflessness.
In the nation’s mind, there can be no question he is now the man. Scotland’s No 9.
The long journey to the top taught him to take nothing for granted.
‘Every game is a new game for me,’ adds Griffiths. ‘The England game was a high. Everybody was on a high after it. But it is a new game now.
‘I need to look forward and try to work my way into the side for the Lithuania game. If the manager decides to go down a different route, I will be on the bench ready to come on and try to give him a lift.
‘I’m delighted every time I am picked to play for my country.
‘Its a great honour and if I get that chance on Friday night I will try to take the points back home.’