Scott McTominay has revealed he needed his heart shocked just two days before Scotland's opening game at the World Cup, but insists he will not use the health scare as an excuse for the team's dismal group-stage exit.
The Napoli midfielder received a police escort to a Boston hospital for the treatment 36 hours before Steve Clarke's side beat Haiti 1-0. The SFA and McTominay kept the procedure secret, with the midfielder reported to be a doubt for the game due to a sickness bug.
Secret procedure before Haiti clash
The 29-year-old has now spoken publicly for the first time about the issue, which required surgery when he returned to his club in Naples. He is now fit and playing in Serie A, and has been recalled to Sebastien Pocognoli's squad for Nations League matches against North Macedonia and Switzerland.
McTominay was not at his best during the World Cup, where Scotland crashed out at the group stage after defeats to Morocco and Brazil. He has opened up on the trauma of having his heart reset to its normal rhythm but refused to blame it for his performances in America.
McTominay takes responsibility
Speaking about the ordeal, McTominay said: "You're not going to say there's something to do with my heart two days before the first game of the World Cup. It's not an ideal scenario being in the hospital 36 hours before. We went to Boston, got a police escort to go and get the shock then that was it. After that, I was back in normal rhythm, which is how a healthy heart should be. Then I went and played the game two days later."
He added: "You have to take the cards that you're dealt on the chin. It's part of the game. There was nothing I could do about it and the shock went well. It was tough. It's never easy, things like that. But you can't use it as an excuse because that's just not in my nature."
Reflecting on World Cup disappointment
McTominay accepted his share of the blame for Scotland's failure to progress. "I take whole responsibility for a lot of the things that we didn't create or didn't score the goals in the World Cup," he said. "I can put my face out there and say that that was nowhere near good enough. You have to go away, think about it and reflect and come back a better player."
He admitted the timing of the procedure raised questions about what might have been, but said he was reassured by the medical team. "Was it a case of what might have been? You don't know, do you? You never know. It was in my hands. The medical team reassured me it was safe to play and they said: 'What do you think'? I said, let's go for it. Whenever I was on the pitch and training I was giving my absolute best and that's one thing I'll take away from the experience. And all the players were great with me when I came back."
