EVERY one of his Scotland caps has its own meaning and sense of achievement for Craig Gordon. He would give them up to have the memories that David Marshall cherishes and the legacy that he has left.
The keepers have been friends and rivals throughout their careers and their service for club and country sets them out as two of the finest of their generation. Tuesday marked the end of an era, though.
At the age of 37, Marshall has decided to call time on his Scotland career. After a heart-to-heart with Gordon, he quit the camp and left Steve Clarke to get on with the job of preparing for the Nations League campaign that kicked off with victory over Armenia the following day.
The warmth of the tributes paid to Marshall spoke volumes about his service to Scotland. One moment, one wonderful night in Belgrade, stands above the rest, though, and would surely have featured prominently in the stroll down memory lane.
“It was a sad one for me,” Gordon said. “He came to my room and we had a chat about 20 minutes.
“He told me about his decision before he announced it and it was nice to talk about the years gone by and things that had happened.
“I can’t pay a high enough tribute to him. He has 47 caps and probably more than that he has sat on the bench.
“We have all had to do that for each other at different points but him especially. He’s given everything to Scotland over the years.
“I would give up some of my caps to be the guy who saved the penalty which got us to the Euros. He’s got that over me and he will be fondly remembered by everyone for that.
“Liam Kelly told me a stat on Wednesday that there had only been three European or World Cup qualifiers in the last 17 years that myself, Allan McGregor or Marsh hadn’t played in.
“I don’t know if that’s right but Liam is good at that stuff.
“It shows how long we have been here over those years and I am still going, we will see how much longer I can keep going.
“Marsh is a brilliant goalie and I got on so well with him since the Under-21s, right through.
“He was my first room-mate going back to then, when we were in our late teens and early twenties.
“It was a sad day to see him eventually go. He’s a great person to have around the squad and he will be missed by everyone and especially by me.”
It is remarkable to think that Scotland have been so blessed with high-quality keepers for the best part of two decades and Gordon is now the last man standing for the national side.
A succession of managers have had their respective selection issues to solve across the park. When it comes to the first name on the team-sheet, it has been the task of leaving one out that has been the toughest call to make.
At 39, Gordon is still going strong. Now under the goalie guidance of Chris Woods, he is confident he has plenty more to give for his country after another fine term for Hearts.
Gordon said: “We have been lucky that it’s been the three of us coming through at the one time.
“I’m sure the coaches would have preferred us to spread that out over a longer period of time. But all three of us are a similar age and it’s been enjoyable and inspiring to train with these guys.
“Trying to be the guy to be in possession of the gloves has been a hard slog and we have pushed each other.
“I have taken inspiration from Allan and David to keep going and get back to be at that level.
“It’s mix emotions that I’m still the last man standing for Scotland. But I’m happy to do it, but I’m sad to see Marsh to go.”
