Craig Gordon dedicated his Hampden heroics to his newborn baby boy after an incredible whirlwind 24 hours. The Scotland star had a sleepless night as he waited for the new arrival to come at 6.56am Friday morning.
Gordon was by his partner's side to welcome baby Axel into the world – and he was back in the sticks little over 12 hours later to help secure the Nations League win against Ireland. The 39-year-old revealed his lad is already the youngest member of the Tartan Army – as well as the nation's lucky charm.
Gordon said: “Yeah, that was for Axel. I got sent a picture of him watching on a laptop so he’s already seen his first game! I got the call at half 10 on Friday night, so I was at the birth, which was great. I came back through and slept most of the day, got up and played. I managed about five hours sleep during the day. I got up 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! 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.”
Gordon played his part in the big win over the Irish. At 1-1 Ireland striker Troy Parrot was through on goal only for the Hearts hero to make a superb block.
Gordon said: “It was a big moment for me in the game. There wasn’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.
“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.”
Scotland now need just one point against Ukraine in Poland on Tuesday to top Group B1, secure a play-off spot for the Euros and gain promotion to the top tier of the Nations League. Gordon said: “The main one for us is making sure of that play-off. You take whatever comes in the next round.
"Group A would be a few years away but we know we have to go there and get at least a draw, which will be a difficult thing to do. They had a big win against Armenia and it will be a tough game. We have put ourselves in a good position after the last week.”
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