Scotland captain Andrew Robertson has received messages from the owners of Liverpool praising the impact of the Tartan Army on the city of Boston.
Founded by Liverpool owner John W. Henry, Fenway Sports Group owns English giants Liverpool and the Boston Red Sox baseball team as well as the NHL side Pittsburgh Penguins.
This week Scotland fans staged a takeover of the Massachusetts city of Boston, marching to the iconic Fenway Park to celebrate the 1-0 win over Haiti and watching the Red Sox face the Texas Rangers.
A Liverpool legend, Robertson recently left Anfield to join Tottenham Hotspur, but was back in touch with an unnamed member of the Fenway consortium this week.
Praising the behaviour of Scotland fans in and around the venue for tonight’s World Cup clash with Morocco, the 32-year-old skipper said: “The biggest compliment I can give them (Scotland fans) is that I’m not surprised.
“When they went to Germany, every city they were in, they fell in love with them. I think when they go to away games in qualifying campaigns, people fall in love with them and Boston has been exactly the same.
“It's been great to see the videos from the Red Sox game. I think the Liverpool owners were absolutely delighted with that.
“One of them sent a nice message to me, so the fans carried themselves so well. You've got to give them credit.”
Red Sox held a ‘Scotland Day’ attracting a march of over 5000 Scotland fans to Fenway and creating a party atmosphere.
Asked what the message conveyed, Robertson replied: “He was just saying that basically the Red Sox game had turned into a Tartan Army party. I think he was happy to hear different songs getting sung, about all the kilts there being so many Scotland shirts about the place.
“They certainly made a night of it at the baseball. On Saturday they were magnificent for us in the city and in the stadium, and I know they'll be the same again tomorrow.
“They've lived up to themselves so well, so I can't speak highly enough of them. They’re the best in the world, and I’m sure they'll continue to be.”
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With Boston bars running out of beer, the feel-good factor would only be enhanced by Scotland earning the point they need to make reach the last 32 of the World Cup for the first time ever. “You try not to think too much about it (making history) because we've got such tough tasks ahead of us," Robertson said.
“But I don't think any of the lads or coaching staff have shied away from it. We want to be the first team to be able to do it for our country and it's a nice feeling. We know how difficult it's going to be.
"We're now playing against one of the best teams in the world but we believe we can make any game difficult. If we can do that and if we can put in our best performance, I believe we can get what we want and hopefully be the ones that achieve history.
“We know what we want to try and do. But we know we're going to need more. We're looking forward to it.”
To reach the promised land, Scotland will need to stifle and curtail a team full of world-class footballers. Paris Saint-Germain right-back and captain Achraf Hakimi won his first cap at 17 and has locked horns with Robertson in the Champions League in each of the last two seasons.
A huge admirer of Hakimi’s professional ability and attributes, the Scotland skipper rates his opposite number as the best full-back on the planet. “I can't speak highly enough of him. I’ve got huge admiration for him and all that he's doing just now. So it's going to be a tough task. What a fantastic player.
“I think he’s the best full-back in the world, him and Nuno Mendes on the other side at PSG. We [Liverpool] played against them twice in the last two years of the Champions League, and both are phenomenal, a joy to watch.
“Everyone enjoys watching Hakimi, the freedom he plays with, the way he pops up in your box one second then the next he’s back defending in his own. So I have huge admiration for all he does.
"Hopefully he has one of his quiet games here.”
Bayern Munich have just completed the signing of Ismael Saibari, scorer of the opening goal of the World Cup for the Qatar semi-finalists as the Atlas Lions produced an impressive performance against five-time World champions Brazil. “He could be a danger, but I think they're all dangerous," Robertson admitted.
“That's the biggest compliment I can give them. I think they've got quality all over the pitch, so many good players all over that it's so hard to then focus on one – because then another one will pop up and punish you. There’s so much quality in their midfield.
“Rather than picking out one or two players, I’d say that as a team and as a unit they're going to be such a hard team to play against. A fantastic team. There’s no reason they should be any different from the way they’ve been in the past.
“We also believe in the quality that we've got, though; we have to believe we can be a tough team to play against. We have to show that on the biggest stage. If we do that, then hopefully we can come out on top.
“That’s everything we’ve been working towards all week, and it’s what we want to deliver on the night.”
