How ‘Super John McGinn’ became a distinctly Scottish superman at World Cup

From Birmingham to Boston, the song was the same. As Aston Villa celebrated their Europa League win on their parade, Unai Emery launched into a rendition of “Super John McGinn”; the Basque’s team are often in tune, even if his singing was not. A few weeks later, outside Faneuil Hall in the heart of Boston, the Tartan Army’s version was rather better.

Later that night, McGinn had them singing again. Not since Stuart McCall and Mo Johnston in 1990 had a Scot scored in a World Cup win; or not for his own side, anyway, given Tom Boyd’s unfortunate final touch for Brazil’s decider in 1998. The Scotland supporters reportedly set new records for the noise levels they hit in the Gillette Stadium on Saturday. When they face Morocco on Friday, McGinn may be the likeliest candidate to get them deafening Massachusetts again.