John McGinn was so desperate to keep our Euro 2024 dream walking on water he volunteered to go out and help ground staff clear the waterlogged Hampden pitch.
Steve Clarke’s Scotland side are now at the top of qualifying Group A with four wins out of four, after they eventually saw off Georgia and the pitfalls of the Scottish summer on Tuesday night. An evening downpour saw the showdown thrown into chaos after Callum McGregor had put the Scots ahead in six minutes. Then the action was put on hold because of the excessive surface water.
There were a number of delays to give the ground staff and ball boys chances to get the water off the pitch, with an army of squeegees and brushes deployed. McGinn and his team-mates were left frustrated in the Hampden dressing room and the Aston Villa star even asked to go and out and assist them. Thankfully, Clarke’s men were able to reward those who cleared the pitch when the action finally resumed, with Scott McTominay scoring a second goal to clinch a record-breaking fourth-straight qualifying win. Scotland midfielder McGinn said: “The groundstaff and everyone involved did an amazing job clearing the pitch.
“It hadn’t rained for about two weeks and I don’t think anyone was expecting the downpour. I don’t know if it should have been able to handle that amount of rain, I’m not an expert. But they all did an incredible job. I was wanting to give them a hand but we weren’t allowed.
“It might have helped because it was painful to watch but I was told it might tire me out. Fair play to them.”
The 28-year-old was amazed Hungarian referee Istvan Vad even kicked off the game. The ball wasn’t running, water was splashing everywhere and players were finding it almost impossible to change direction.
Steve Clarke and Georgia coach Willy Sagnol were in agreement the pitch just wasn’t playable. McGinn candidly claimed: “No, it shouldn’t have started given the conditions. We could have maybe waited for 30 minutes, listen it’s easy to say that now.
“UEFA are looking to get the game started, so are the players. It’s just an overriding feeling of relief because once the game does start you always want to see it through.”
Following McGregor’s opening goal and the long delay the Scotland team were desperate for the game to be resumed, although the Georgians, for obvious reasons, weren’t quite as keen.
Villa star McGinn admitted: “It was mental, an absolutely mental night. There’s no doubt the messages weren’t clear.
It was just mixed signals in the sense we were told the game was kicking off at 8.55pm, then 9.15pm, it was just mental. We’re all just relieved to get the game played and get the three points.
“Listen, I can in a way understand why they [the Georgians] were wanting it off. They had just conceded and we would have probably have done the same thing. But it became clear the game was going on and even then they were at it.”
Georgia came out for their second warm-up but there was a long delay before they came out again, leaving Scotland fearing another ‘One team in Tallinn’ nightmare scenario. That occurred back in 1996 when Estonia refused to play Scotland over a floodlight dispute and the game was abandoned after three seconds.
McGinn was only a toddler when that happened so he was only thinking about the Georgians. He said: “Eventually the officials brought them out and the game went ahead.
“There were a lot of mixed messages and Georgia were playing funny b*****s. They were obviously trying to get it changed or get it moved because we’d just scored.
“It was one of those things but in the end common sense prevailed because in my opinion the game could have started a little bit earlier. There were obviously discussions to be had at various levels but thankfully we were able to get the job done.”
The former Hibs favourite admitted the circumstances were bizarre and left the Scotland team starving but hungry for success on the pitch.
McGinn said: “The whole period was strange, it was the most surreal night of my life. The message was to focus but it wasn’t easy. It was difficult. If I’m honest, I was pretty hungry by the end because we hadn’t had anything to eat since 4.30pm.
“It was nothing you’d ever prepared for but I thought we dealt with it as best we could.”
Captain Andy Robertson looked particularly animated on the pitch and he’s desperate to lead Scotland back to a major finals after Euro 2020. McGinn also joked that he didn’t want the game rescheduled at St Mirren behind closed doors yesterday because that was the same time as Liverpool star Robbo had his charity golf day!
McGinn confirmed: “Funnily enough, that was one thing we were told [playing at St Mirren]. That was the contingency if the game didn’t restart. It wouldn’t have been ideal, that’s for sure. We had Robbo’s charity golf day on Wednesday and at one point it looked as though that might have been off.
“In the end common sense prevailed. It would have been tricky had we been asked to go again behind closed doors. There was a real sense that the game wouldn’t start. The subs were out giving us bad news, that the ball wasn’t bouncing.
“The crowd at Hampden is a big plus for us so to not have them the following day would have been strange.”
McGinn was just pleased to send the Tartan Army home homewards again, late and wet, to think about next summer’s finals in Germany. He said: “It all feels a little bit subdued if I am honest. We’ve had a massive win but the supporters needed to get their buses and trains home.
“Fair play to every single one of them, it was them I felt for. It was fine for us, we were getting shelter and everything we needed.”
