Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn became the latest player to respond to criticism of Scotland's style of play after Manchester City ace Rodri suggested it was 'rubbish'.
Scotland secured a 2-0 victory over Spain at Hampden Park on Tuesday night, with Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay scoring twice in the shock win. Having defeated Cyprus in their opening Euro 2024 qualifier, Steve Clarke's side moved to the top of Group A after overcoming Spain.
After the game, City star Rodri suggested Scotland were 'wasting time' and 'provoking' the Spaniards throughout the clash, while Osasuna defender David Garcia claimed the grass was "too long".
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"It's the way they play," said Rodri. "You have to respect it but for me, it's a bit rubbish. Because it's always wasting time. They provoke you, they always fall. For me, this is not football. For the spirit of the sport, you have to move on. The referee has to take control of this but he says nothing."
However, McGinn, speaking to Sky Sports, suggested some of the claims were wrong, but did admit Scotland played to their strengths against Luis de la Fuente's side.
He said: "I did see the comments. I don’t really have a huge amount of reaction. I wasn’t really sure that was something that could be targeted at us, falling about. Wasting time? Absolutely. If anyone expects us to go head-to-head with Spain in a tiki-taka battle for 90 minutes and expects us to come away with three points then there is absolutely no chance.
"So I think everyone needs to get a bit of realism about it, realise that we need to find a way to beat Spain and we managed to do it. The grass is a bit long, the pitch was a little bit sticky but it is in Scotland, not Spain. That’s the benefits of being the home team.
"I thought we handled the game well, maturely. Did we waste time a wee bit? Absolutely because we were winning from an early point. Were we rolling about in challenges? No, we were the same as the Spain players so I don’t really agree with that but Spain are a top team and I am sure they will be back."
Fuente, who was taking charge of just his second game as manager, made eight changes to his side for the clash with Scotland, with Spain having defeated Norway 3-0 last weekend.
Meanwhile, Rodri is likely to feature for Pep Guardiola's side when they host Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday.
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