The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Coach relives wonder month of glory for club and country ●A terrific tale of eight games, two continents and a coin toss
The eyes of Ross County’s young guns light up when academy coach Richard Hastings relates his experiences of sharing the pitch with football royalty like Zinedine Zidane, Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero.
The former Caley Thistle full-back won 59 caps for Canada and made more than 400 club appearances across a 16-year playing career that included spells in Austria and the Netherlands.
But one period in February 2000 stands out more than any other.
Across 25 days, Hastings played in eight matches on two continents, helped his club achieve one of Scottish football’s biggest upsets, scored for his country and won an international tournament.
Oh and the goal he scored? It turned out to be one of the most memorable in Canadian football history, a golden goal winner against Mexico.
It was 20 years ago today that Hastings scored his solitary international goal to dump the tournament favourites out of the 2000 Gold Cup quarter-final.
“I remember lying on the pitch at the end of normal time in the Mexico game, telling Bruce Twamley (Canada’s assistant manager) that I had nothing left,” said the now 42-year-old.
“I was never the type to give in, I was just completely spent.” No wonder. February began for the Caley Thistle defender with a routine 4-1 win at Airdrie.
Three days later his club went stratospheric when they defeated Celtic 3-1 in Glasgow, prompting the famous Super Caley Go Ballistic headline.
But while Hastings’ teammates were getting stuck into a few beers on their jubilant bus back to Inverness, he was preparing to fly to Los Angeles.
Hastings expected to sit on the bench for a couple of games before heading home. However, an injury to Paul Fenwick in Canada’s opening game, a 2-2 draw against Costa Rica, thrust him into the heart of manager Holger Osieck’s plans.
Two days later he was in an unfamiliar central midfield role for Canada’s 0-0 draw with South Korea, a result that left both nations level on points, goal difference and goals at the end of the group stage.
A coin toss saw the Canadians progress to the knockout stages and a quarter-final against Mexico that no one expected them to win.
A battling display kept the score at 1-1 after 90 minutes. Two minutes into extra time the Canucks launched a quick counter from a Mexican corner as Martin Nash fired a long diagonal pass into Hastings’ path.
“It came in at a weird angle. I let it bounce and managed to control it on my thigh,” he said.
“The keeper came out, I slid to get my shot in and it hit the roof of the net.
“As amazing as the Celtic game was, this feeling was way higher than that for me because they couldn’t come back. It was just absolute euphoria.”
Canada followed it up with a narrow win in the semi-finals against Trinidad and Tobago and a 2-0 success against Colombia in the final to clinch the nation’s first – and, so far, only – international honours.
But just like after the Celtic game, Hastings didn’t get the chance to celebrate. He took a redeye flight from Los Angeles back to the UK, and then a connecting flight to Aberdeen.
Less than 48 hours after lifting the Gold Cup, Caley Thistle manager Steve Paterson thrust Hastings back into his team for a Scottish Cup replay against the Dons at Pittodrie.
Despite losing 1-0, the Canadian international was named man of the match that night.
He said: “I didn’t even get to go back to Inverness. It was straight to Aberdeen and then back into the lineup.
“It was bittersweet because I managed to have a really good game even though we lost.
“It was the best month of my career. I guess the key is jet-lag and a triple espresso.”
Joins Caley Thistle, spending seven years with the club during which he was part of the famous Scottish Cup win over Celtic at Parkhead in February 2000
Makes his debut for Canada, scoring a Gold Cup winner against Mexico less than two years later as the Canucks went on to lift the trophy
Crosses the Kessock Bridge to sign for Inverness’s rivals Ross County, staying in Dingwall for a season
Opts to play abroad and signs for Austrian side GAK Graz
The defender is back in familiar surroundings as he arrives at Inverness for the start of a five-year spell
After a period living in Canada, Hastings joins Highland League side Brora Rangers
After hanging up his boots the Canadian goes into coaching and has subsequently gone on to work with the SFA, Caley Thistle and Ross County