JOY OH JOY gfsdgfdsgGordon
John McGinn feared passing up a late chance would make him the Hampden fall- guy before his horror turned to joy.
The Aston Villa midfielder’s close-range effort was blocked by old Hibs team-mate Ofir Marciano as the thriller looked set to end all square.
But Scott McTominay’s 93rdminute winner sent the Tartan Army into a state of euphoria and ensured a clear path to a World Cup play- of f spot courtesy of a second place finish in Group F.
It all added up to a night unlike any other for McGinn, who sampled his first full house at the national stadium with a memory he insists will never leave him.
He said: “That’s my 39th cap and my first ever full house for Scotland.
“It was like the games I used to come to when I was younger, Ukraine at home on a Saturday at 3 o’clock, the Czech Republic, all those ones where you dream about playing for Scotland.
“Tonight is one of those that it’s just become a reality.
“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, but we’re certainly giving the Scottish supporters a team to be proud of again.
“I was a bit gutted I never got the one at the end.
“That will definitely go down as a sitter. It was a great pass
Parks
from Ryan Christie.
“All I was thinking about was I was going to be the fall guy on this occasion and I was absolutely shattered.
“There’s a wee hill at the corner at Hampden where you take the corner.
“I just had to puff my cheeks out, one last kick and thankfully Jack Hendry and Scot t McTominay did the rest. It’s such a humongous win for us.”
This was a qualifier for Qatar 2023 which had everything, with Scotland twice fighting back from falling behind and missing a penalty only for the points to be bagged deep into added time.
McGinn admits it wasn’t a game he’ll look back on as one of his most enjoyable and he believes nobody would have complained had it been Israel who bagged all three points.
He said: “It was some game but not an enjoyable one to play in. It’s one of those ones where, as soon as you make a mistake, you feel they can put you under the cosh.
“In fairness to Israel, nobody could have argued if they had got the three points.
“They are a good side and we’ve seen that over the 90 times that we’ve played them.
“But we’ve worked hard all
week on set-pieces. Over the game they weren’t amazing, but a flick from Jack and Scotty was there to finish it.
“It was brilliant scenes at the end and what we’ve been waiting on for a few years now.”
Next up is a trip to face the Faroes on Tuesday night followed by a visit to Moldova on November 12 before closing the group against the Danes three days later.
Two wins are all that ’s required to ensure a play- off spot but McGinn has warned against complacency for a nation well served for tales about the dangers of taking anything for granted.
He said: “The campaign when we beat France home and away, you look at that and you think it’s a play-off minimum.
“But then the minute you seem comfortable is the minute you get tripped up.
“We’ll keep an eye on what the Faroes do against Austria and then work on them for Tuesday.
“The celebration certainly wasn’t a case of job done.
“The manager stressed that in there. It was just an appreciation of how it’s been a tough couple of years for everyone, and to thank everyone for turning up and giving us support.
“It would have been quite easy for the fans to leave, but everyone stayed until the end and they got their just rewards.
“We know that we’ve got two
big games coming up and in previous campaigns those are the games that have tripped us up. We’ll go back, stay focused and be ready for Tuesday.”
McGinn cracked in a stunning strike from the edge of the box to pull Scotland level for the first time and he was delighted to make his mark.
He said: “It had been a wee mini-drought for me so it was brilliant to score again.
“I got a good pass from Robbo, got a decent touch and never lashed at it this time.
“I’m glad to be back scoring again and I hope I can keep adding to that.”
Last gasp goal hero McTominay admits Scotland had to shake themselves out of a first-half slumber before he bagged the goal which was also the perfect birthday gift.
He said: “I knew I had to score before my grandad’s birthday on Monday.
“I can’t put this feeling into words, I’ll never forget it.
“We know Israel are a difficult team, but in the second half we dominated them in my opinion.
“We created a huge amount of chances. At half-time, we knew we had to wake up.
“They were more aggressive, more aware, more compact as a team in the first 45 minutes.”