McGINN A HAMPDEN HAT-TRICK HERO
But McGinn feared treble would be washed away
JOHN McGINN feared his historic Scotland hat-trick against San Marino was in danger of being washed away by the deluge at Hampden.
The Aston Villa midfielder became the first player to hit a first-half treble for the national side since Lawrie Reilly netted three against the USA in 1952 as Steve Clarke’s side recorded a 6-0 victory.
McGinn admitted he was anxious about the match being abandoned as the players splashed through surface water in the second half — and thought his goals would be lost from the record books.
He had previously suffered an abandonment while playing for St Mirren against Ross County in 2013, when the whole game had to be replayed.
However, his concerns proved to be unfounded as, under UEFA rules, the Scotland match would have been restarted today from the point at which it
JOHN McGINN has suddenly emerged as Scotland’s closest thing to a goal machine. Having gone through 15 caps without scoring, the midfielder now has four in his last four appearances.
Last night’s hat-trick against San Marino was the first treble McGinn has hit in his senior career. It was also the first netted by a Scotland player in the first half of an international since Lawrie Reilly put USA to the sword in 1952.
That added an historic dimension to McGinn’s improvement in and around the penalty area. For that, the 24-year-old paid tribute to the coaching staff at Aston Villa for guiding him towards greater potency. Three goals on club duty already this season provide a nice accompaniment to his little surge of scoring in a dark-blue jersey.
McGinn also hopes the feat can have a wider effect. While a rout of the group no-hopers can’t dispel the misery accumulated over this campaign, the ex-Hibs man feels it can help to rebuild confidence ahead of the Euro 2020 play-offs in March.
‘I’ve never scored a hat-trick before because I used to be a left-back, so I never used to get forward,’ grinned McGinn. ‘I’m beaming, delighted. I’ve been watching Lawrence Shankland in training and learning how to finish!
‘The match ball is in my bag. I might never get another one, so I’m going to keep this one and treasure it.
‘It’s four goals for me with Scotland after a slow start. I’m delighted and I hope it is the start of many to come.
‘It’s something I have been working on at club level and, hopefully, I can use it to help Scotland.’
There was a hint of dubiety about his first strike after 12 minutes. Ryan Christie cut in from the right flank and sent a curling effort across the face of goal.
McGinn charged in and got the faintest of touches to help send the ball beyond San Marino goalkeeper Aldo Simoncini and into the corner of the net.
‘I got a nick on the first one,’ insisted McGinn. ‘I saw Ryan putting the ball across and I got a wee touch on it.
‘My conscience is clear because I’m saying it was going wide!
‘The goalscoring is something I have been working on because I used to be more of a defensive player.
‘Credit to the staff at Aston Villa right now. I am working tirelessly on making runs into the box and making myself more useful up the park. It seems to be paying off, so hopefully I can carry it on.
‘This ranks right up there with other achievements. Every time you play for your country it’s a privilege and an honour.
‘To get a hat-trick made it an amazing night for me but it was more important to win.
‘Our confidence has been dented and a lot has been said about us but we were good in tough conditions.’
McGinn notched his second after Simoncini had feebly palmed out a Scott McTominay cross. The hat-trick was completed when Stuart Findlay — who would later mark his debut with a goal — sent in a header that McGinn pounced upon to finish.
There is a mild irony in former England captain John Terry being a key influence in helping McGinn deliver for Scotland.
‘Scoring is the hardest thing to do in football,’ said McGinn. ‘I used to find it very difficult but I’m finding it a little bit easier and, hopefully, I can carry on.
‘The manager (Dean Smith) and all the coaching staff, Richard (O’Kelly) and JT (Terry), at Aston Villa have helped me in trying to be more of a goal threat.
‘They always do certain things individually, watch a lot of clips and analyse the game. I was very raw before, and maybe still am a little bit but I’m trying to cut that out and become better all the time.
‘There’s no better place to do that than Aston Villa. I want to keep taking that responsibility and keep scoring. ‘John Terry believes you can be your own man. I’m different to everyone he played with — he reminds me of that all the time — and he just wants me to work on those late runs into the box.’
Last week’s 4-0 battering by Russia in Moscow officially ended Scottish hopes of direct qualification for Euro 2020 but the writing had been on the wall long before then. From an opening 3-0 defeat in Kazakhstan, this has been one long tale of misery. Replacing Alex McLeish with Steve Clarke failed to bring the managerial bounce that had been hoped.
Now, however, all energies are trained towards raising belief ahead of the play-offs. Next month’s double-header against Cyprus and Kazakhstan provides the final outings before that crunch assignment in March.
‘The last few days have been tough,’ admitted McGinn. ‘We all want to be successful. You see the squad now and there’s no egos, nobody who’s going to throw the toys out of the pram.
‘Everyone wants to be part of that group that takes us to the tournament next summer. The air of desperation might put a bit more pressure on but we need to be able to handle that and perform the way we know we can.
‘It wasn’t good enough in Moscow, so it was important to try and right that wrong. We might not have done that quite yet but it’s done a little bit to help.
‘It was a good performance and that was needed. As a country we are hurting after the recent results — the players, coaching staff and the supporters.
‘Hopefully, we can use that to get closer to third place in the table and carry it on to March.’