WORLD OF PAIN
McGinn is adamant that Nations League joy won’t make up for failure to reach Qatar and claims he won’t be tuning in when the action kicks off in November
FI don’t know if we will watch the World Cup, we might stay away
OR those whose commitment to supporting Scotland in all corners of the world is non-negotiable, rare moments of glory are things to be savoured. When the final whistle sounded in Krakow on Tuesday, the explosion of joy in the visiting section sparked by a gutsy goalless draw against Ukraine spoke to a welcome change in narrative from many years in the doldrums.
Aside from actually qualifying for a major competition, topping a group, winning promotion, claiming a play-off spot and securing a place in Pot Two of the draw for Euro 2024 is pretty much as good as it gets.
And that an epic week for Steve Clarke’s players just happened to arrive as the Auld Enemy took a tumble down to League B? It would surely be harsh to deny the Tartan Army their right to indulge in a little schadenfreude.
As they returned to their clubs yesterday, though, those players who ply their trades south of the border would have resisted any good-natured reprisals of Tuesday’s terracing chants.
Scotland may be on the rise. But, come late November, they will be watching on from afar with envy as England travel to the World Cup in Qatar.
Stand-in skipper John McGinn, for one, sees no sense in tickling the ribs of Aston Villa’s England contingent — certainly not for as long as they have the last laugh.
‘No, I think it’s one we’ll stay away from,’ he said. ‘They’re going to the World Cup and we aren’t, which is something that still hurts.’
The sense of an opportunity lost is hard to escape. Would Clarke’s men have performed better against Ukraine in June’s play-off had the Russian invasion not pushed its staging back three months?
We will never know for sure. But having comprehensively beaten them in the Nations League at Hampden then shut them out in Poland, it appears that timing was not on Scotland’s side.
Ukraine, of course, also fell at the next hurdle to Wales. The reward for Rob Page’s side is a group containing Iran, USA and an England team which appears to be in freefall. Come and have a look at what you could have won, Scotland...
‘It hurts us,’ McGinn stressed. ‘I don’t know if we’ll watch the World Cup, we might try and stay away. But we need to use it as fuel going into Germany 2024.
‘We’ve got the players and the ability to get there. That’s our main aim now.
‘We’ve managed to get into a great position — we’re in Pot Two for the qualifying draw — and that gives us the best possible chance of getting there.
‘And if we fail, which we don’t want to happen, we’ve now got a play-off in the background to try and give us a bit of a buffer.
‘We’ll try not to focus too much on England. They’ve done extremely well over the last couple of years. ‘We’ve had a slightly better Nations League campaign — but I’m sure they’ll bounce back.’ McGinn’s diplomatic stance is understandable. Based in the Midlands and with a veritable England legend in Steven Gerrard as his manager, respect for how tough international football can be is a two-way street. ‘He messaged me after the game to say “well done”. He leaves me to it regarding international duty,’ said the midfielder. ‘But I got his message after the match and he also said “see you Thursday when you’re back down”.’
McGinn is as level-headed an individual as you could ever meet but even he might have needed a day or so to get his feet back on the ground.
In Andy Robertson’s injuryenforced absence, the opening goal he struck against Ukraine at Hampden while wearing the armband was the stuff of childhood dreams.
To be the on-field leader for his 50th cap against Ireland, and also for the night promotion to the top tier was sealed, elevated the tripleheader to a whole new level.
‘It’s certainly right up there, especially the circumstances against Ukraine,’ he recalled. ‘We had injuries, we had illness, three games in six days, travel.
‘Everything was going against us and it would have been very easy for us to make excuses. But we’ve given the country a team to be proud of. And to be a big part of that is certainly a huge honour for me and makes me extremely proud.’
The failure to reach Qatar certainly hasn’t changed the perception that this squad has something that previous ones didn’t.
Whether a star name or one of its lesser-heralded members, they each have an inner belief that was evidently lacking in some of their predecessors.
Racked by injuries, illness and a suspension on Tuesday, readymade excuses for a makeshift squad were not in short supply.
Yet, to a man, they dug in commendably to ensure that theirs wouldn’t be just another hard luck story. They have
redoubtable character to complement their natural ability.
‘There are a lot of different personalities, a lot of good characters,’ said Rangers midfielder Ryan Jack, who typified the team effort in Poland.
‘It’s not just off the pitch, it’s on the pitch — you need those characters on the pitch and I think right now we’ve got that.
‘We’ve got a good mix and a good blend of experience and youth. Even Aaron Hickey against Ukraine, I thought he was absolutely outstanding at right-back, filling in at a position he doesn’t play for his club.
‘It just shows that we’re going to need everybody to step in and step up because these games are tough and these venues are tough.
‘You can tell with the standard of training. The quality’s high. It’s important that myself and others, Kenny McLean etc, are ready to step in when other boys are out. Or other boys are ready to step in when we’re out. That’s the way it is, we’ve got a lot of quality.
‘So I was delighted to play and get a good result, play a part in helping us push forward.’
Over the next 18 months a series of special events will be held across Scotland to mark 150 years since the first international football match, the founding of the SFA and the first season of the Scottish Cup. Archie Macpherson and eilidh Barbour will provide the voices of Scottish football to archive film written by Daniel Gray.