Even for former Celtic keeper Craig Gordon himself, being recalled into Steve Clarke's Scotland plans came as a surprise.
The veteran stopper has now revealed he realised he'd play for his country again by way of a WhatsApp group chat add.
Days before the Scotland national team travelled to Germany for Euro 2024, Gordon was informed he wouldn't be among the manager's travelling compliment.
The 41-year-old instead turned out for Scotland against Finland at Hampden, coming off the bench as a second half substitute.
With that, Gordon assumed this was his international curtain call - until he was unexpectedly reintroduced to the national team group chat.
"I’ve just got two notifications — ‘left’ and then ‘re-added’ — that’s how it stands," said Gordon.
“I didn’t know about it. I found out coming off the training field just before [the Hearts squad] left to go to the airport.
“So yeah, I didn’t expect it. I thought probably the last time I had played that would be the final game.
“But I never closed that chapter. I went away and worked hard and had a good pre-season."
Read more:
- Celtic keeper Schmeichel reveals his 'midnight rule'
- TCW surveys the support: Can Celtic succeed this season in the Champions League?
Gordon added: "All I’ve ever done is gone and worked hard to try to come back.
“And that’s what I’ve done. I’ve been able to play a good number of games in the season. I just concentrated on myself, and worked as hard as I could.
“It’s nice the opportunity has come up again."
Having signed for Celtic in the summer of 2014, Gordon played a key role in Brendan Rodgers' Invincibles and Double Treble seasons between 2016 and 2018.
After losing the No.1 jersey to Scott Bain towards the end of Rodgers' first spell in charge and throughout Neil Lennon's return as Celtic manager, Gordon moved back to Hearts in 2020.
