SATURDAY was a momentous day for Craig Gordon. Late on Friday night, the Scotland goalkeeper received a call informing him that his partner had gone into labour. By 6:56am, he was able to welcome his newborn son, Axel, into the world. By 9:45pm that evening, he had just produced another important display as the national team returned to the top of Group B1.
“I got the call at half 10 on Friday night, so I was at the birth, which was great,” the Hearts captain said. “I came back through and slept most of the day, got up and played!
“It was a great day, absolutely brilliant, it couldn’t have gone much better. I was delighted with everything. It was an amazing morning and it was finished off with a great result at night.
“He saw the game. I got sent a picture of him watching on a laptop so he’s already seen his first game.
“He’s not got the goalie gloves yet, but I’m working on it!”
Gordon managed to grab a bit of shut-eye during the day before heading off to Hampden in the evening and was firing on all cylinders by the time kick-off rolled around. An all-nighter isn’t exactly the perfect preparation for an international fixture but the 39-year-old shrugged it off nonetheless.
“It’s fine,” he said. “I’ve done this for so long now. I managed to get back to the hotel and got about five hours sleep during the day.
“I got up in time for the meeting before the bus departed and straight in to the normal routine of preparing for a match.
“It was busy and a bit different. It was good to get through the game and maybe I’ll get some sleep now – because I might not get much the next few months!”
As is so often the case, Gordon was called into action with the game hanging in the balance at 1-1. The veteran shot-stopper produced an important save to keep his side in the game when Troy Parrott sprung forward on the counter-attack, only for the Scotland No.1 to deny the Irishman in a one v one.
“It was a big moment for me in the game,” Gordon said. “There weren't too many but that was a one versus one where I had to come out on top.
“It was good for me to keep us in the game at that point and it was up to the other guys to go up the other end and do what they do.
“It was a nice moment but the guys made it worth it by getting the win.”
He continued: “We want to win games. You can’t set up to try to draw. You need to see how the game progresses and you might take a draw in the last few minutes but we were going for the win.
“We went behind and had to work our way back into the game. But we dug really deep to dig that one out because it was a really difficult, high-intensity game.
“It was great to come out with another win.”
