The wait for Scotland’s first win at the World Cup was 36 years long, yet when finally it arrived, in the wee small hours back home, it turned out not quite to be the joyous occasion that was anticipated.
A long time out in the cold for Scotland was ended by a John McGinn goal in Massachusetts – in front of a giant Scottish following that had flooded in from Boston, many of them on yellow school buses. By the end of the night Scotland sat atop Group C, ahead of Morocco and Brazil who drew earlier in the day. It should have been one of the epic nights of Scottish football, and yet to describe this win as emphatic would stretch the credulity of even Scotland’s most devoted followers.
They had waited a long time for this – since Italia ’90 and a group-stage win over Sweden in Genoa. It was just the fifth Scotland win in nine World Cups. Yet given the quality of the two other teams in the group, the concern for Scotland will be that they need more goals to be one of the third-place qualifiers for the knockout round. As a landmark in Scottish football it was undeniable. As a win in itself it still felt inadequate.
Haiti had little finesse in attack which was most evident when Frantzdy Pierrot glanced a header wide of Angus Gunn’s goal with five minutes of the regulation 90 remaining. That was Haiti’s big chance for a point and it added to the mounting anxiety of the legion of Scotland supporters who erupted at the final whistle. This generation of players have been to two European Championships and failed to win a game at either of them so here at last was a moment of vindication.
“You see just how difficult it is for a country like Scotland to go to a World Cup and win games,” Steve Clarke reflected later. “It doesn’t happen very often. I think they showed their resilience tonight.”
The Scotland manager offered unalloyed delight at the outcome – and ordinarily one would not confuse Clarke with a sunbeam. He pointed out that his team had met expectations. “Everyone told us we must win the game and we won the game,” he said. “I think we can be happy with ourselves. The next two games are against top ten [Fifa ranked] teams but we will be under less pressure than everyone put us under for this game.
“If we defend as well as we did and hopefully create a little bit more with the ball we will be OK.”
Haiti are 47 places below Scotland in the Fifa rankings and playing at only their second World Cup. Their manager Sebastien Migne has never even set foot in the country as a result of the problems there which mean the team cannot play home games in Port-au-Prince. Yet they pressed hard and disrupted Scotland from an early stage, forcing goalkeeper Gunn to kick long and often cede possession.
It did not feel like Scotland had the confidence to pass through the press and so an inelegant game unfolded. Neither team passed very fluently through the midfield. Scott McTominay was occupied in deeper positions. Ben Gannon-Doak was Scotland’s best attacking threat in the first half and it was the Bournemouth striker who created the opening that led to McGinn’s goal.
The Wolves midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde had a good game, although it was he who deflected McGinn’s shot into his own net – the second of two ricochets. The winger Ruben Providence also tested Aaron Hickey down Scotland’s right. The outstanding Scottish player was Lewis Ferguson, who has played for Bologna for the last four years and was tenacious in midfield.
Clarke said that his team were not nervous in the closing stages – they just knew they were in touching distance of something remarkable. “They have been so good for the nation. They deserve to be the team that has finally got another [World Cup] win on the board for Scotland.
“Towards the end you know you are 1-0 up and you have something to hang onto. We have shown a number of times we can see a game out. We did have the biggest chance of the second half with John McGinn. When you are told it’s a must-win game and you win the players deserve a lot of credit.”
McGinn’s chance in the 73rd minute was a shot that he never quite nailed – and which was not on target. He had not caught his shot for the goal properly either but that had taken a double deflection on its way past the Haiti goalkeeper Johny Placide. Che Adams’s glorious touch had secured Scotland possession high up the pitch. It was Gannon-Doak who put in the original cross that was cleared.
McGinn did not play the full game and as both sets of players tired both became vulnerable to a mistake.
Given the intense scrutiny of VAR and the vast, lavishly pixellated stadium screen at the home of the NFL’s New England Patriots, it is a wonder that there was not a red card for Kenny McLean. In injury-time the Scotland substitute thrust a dangerously high boot into Haiti forward Josue Casimir, and escaped with a booking. This really was Scotland’s night.
