Armstrong and celebrations help Che make up mind
WHEN David Marshall sprung to his left in Belgrade to palm Aleksander Mitrovic’s penalty wide of goal, the Scotland No.1 brought 23 years of hurt to a close as the national team finally ended our agonising wait to reach a major tournament.
It was a rare moment of triumph from a team that’s generally more accustomed to providing heartache. The footage of the players doing conga lines around the dressing room, singing and celebrating wildly in the aftermath, were a little chink of joy in what had been an awful year.
Foot soldiers in the Tartan Army greedily hoovered up their heroes’ jubilant antics on social media, desperate to catch just one more glimpse of the party behind the scenes. But for one onlooker, it was more than that: it was the moment he knew he had to commit his international future to Scotland.
Che Adams, the Southampton striker, had knocked back an approach from the Scottish FA when he was a teenager. The England-born forward is eligible for selection thanks to a Scottish grandparent and after years of humming and hawing over where his allegiance lay, the 24-year-old received his first call-up to Steve Clarke’s squad earlier this month.
In an interview with the SFA, Adams admitted that the scenes in Serbia helped him realise that he wanted to join the party, while the odd word in his ear from Southampton team-mate Stuart Armstrong also played its part in winning him over.
“I think it’s come at the right time,” Adams said of his call-up. “Obviously when I was younger I didn’t really know my body or know how I’d adapt but I think I’m at the right age.
“I know a lot of people will say it’s because of the Euros coming up but I don’t think that’s the case. I’ve held talks with Stu [Armstrong] and the gaffer [Clarke] and they recommended it highly.
“[Armstrong] convinced me a lot. I’ve seen videos online [of the squad celebrating] and it’s just something I want to be a part of. Playing with Scotland takes my career to another level and I just can’t wait to get going.
“I’ve seen the David Marshall video online and as soon as I
saw it, I wanted to be a part of that.
“As a player you just want to feel comfortable and the lads have helped me do that. Obviously I know Stu from playing together at club level so he’s helped me settle in.”
Adams’ route to the Premier League has been rather unconventional, having worked his way up from non-league level to first-team football in England’s top flight.
But the former Sheffield United and Birmingham City forward reckons his experience outside the professional set-up has made him the player he is today.
“It makes you tougher,” he explained. “I can handle anything really – if I’ve got a niggle, I’ll just play on.
“I’m quite old school actually. I think it’s a good mentality to have and obviously not many people have come up that way.”
With World Cup qualifiers against Austria, Israel and the Faroe Islands coming up, it seems inevitable that Adams will make his bow on the international stage before the end of the month – and the Saints striker is already counting down the minutes.
Oli McBurnie, Lyndon Dykes and Kevin Nisbet will also be vying for a place up front but Adams reckons that the competition for places helps create a healthy environment in training.
“I think every game is going to be tough,” he added. “I think we just have to stick together and see what we can do. Hopefully, we can do something great.
“I think [lots of competition] is what you need in squads to push each other on and get the best out of each other.”