Scott McTominay has enjoyed a brilliant international career for Scotland. The Manchester United midfielder has scored eight goals for his national side, with an incredible seven coming last year.
Despite being born in Lancaster, the 27-year-old opted to join up with Scotland, with his father being born in Helensburgh.
When he was a youngster with the Red Devils and Jose Mourinho was the Manchester United manager, then-Scotland boss Alex McLeish went down to speak with McTominay and try and persuade him to join the Tartan Army over England.
It’s said that McLeish braved one of the worst storms the country has seen in decades to make it, only to feel a bit cheated when McTominay said ‘yes’ to a call-up straight away.
Speaking to FourFourTwo, McTominay touched on the occasion: “Yeah! [Laughs] He came down to the training ground. I think he had a good relationship with the manager at the time. Truth be told, I didn’t need convincing at all – playing for Scotland was always something I wanted to do, from an early age.
“I remember going to early regional development camps, but I didn’t get my growth spurt until I was 18, so the timing just had to be right. Alex was brilliant – a really nice guy. I remember sitting in an office at Carrington while he explained how everything would work, but I was already sold.
He continued: “I wanted it, but he made a real effort and it made me feel part of something. I still have that feeling. Whenever I join up with Scotland, I have a real affection for all of the players and the staff.”
Scotland made it to the European Championships this summer - and it will be McTominay’s second tournament with the side. Steve Clarke’s men were seeded with Germany, Switzerland, and Hungary in their group - but McTominay says that they are raring to go.
“It’ll be amazing, especially for all of the Scotland supporters who have followed us all over Europe. They make a lot of sacrifices to be able to do that. People might not believe me but, as a group, we haven’t talked much about the upcoming Euros beyond sorting out some of the practical elements – not yet, at least. We have been so focused on each camp and preparing as well as we could have for the next game. The manager reiterates that, and everyone buys into it. He is constantly pushing to raise standards as well. We took on tough friendlies, but that’s the only way you’ll get better.
“Whenever we’ve lost goals, we’ve been able to analyse them self-critically, instead of being too downhearted. It’s important to be like that. We don’t rest on our laurels because as soon as you do that, you become too comfortable, and in football, being comfortable is the worst position you can be in. It comes back to bite you. When the Euros come round, we will leave everything on the pitch.
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