John McGinn has urged his Scotland teammates to be more positive and have no regrets after securing a narrow but crucial victory over Haiti in their World Cup opener. The Aston Villa star scored the only goal of the game as Scotland secured their first victory at the World Cup since 1990.
It was a nervy affair in Boston as the Scots played in the sport's biggest tournament for the first time since 1998 and held on for the win after McGinn's 28th-minute goal. The performance is ultimately not that important, but the three points are, and Steve Clarke's men are now in a great position to reach the knockout stages.
McGinn's Call for Positivity
McGinn said after the win that he has felt in the past that Scotland have not shown everything they can in big tournaments and was desperate not to have regrets this time around. The goal-scoring hero suggested that was an issue again against Haiti, but was thrilled to get the win knowing his team can significantly improve.
'These opportunities don't come around too often,' he said. 'We've said before at major tournaments, did we bring our best? Did we leave the tournament saying we could have done more or we could have shown more?'
'That's what I tried to bring to the game tonight. Sometimes things didn't come off but I promised myself driving up to the stadium that I would be positive and try things. If they didn't come off, get the ball and try it again.'
'That's what I felt the lads could do more, we did at times, but the good thing for us is we've got more gears to go up.'
'The crucial thing tonight was, Haiti score a lot of goals and are dangerous up front, so kept a clean sheet, which is very important.'
Clarke's Reaction
Manager Clarke was beaming after the victory, also admitting his team could be much better, but was not bothered. 'I just said to the captain there, Andy Robertson, it's about time we won a game in the group stage!' Clarke said.
'We probably put the supporters through it a little bit. Everyone said, 'must-win game'. We won the game.'
'[Resilience] is what this team's all about. If teams let them play, but if they have to dig in and show that character and that resilience, that's what they do as well.'
'Defensively, outstanding. Could have been a little bit better with the ball, but who cares? We won.'
Looking Ahead
Scotland go top of Group C as Morocco picked up a 1-1 draw with Brazil earlier on Saturday. Next up for Clarke's side will be Morocco on Friday night, followed by Brazil on June 24.
Goalkeeper Angus Gunn was clear that they must be significantly better when they face those sterner tests. 'It was difficult. We knew that it was going to be tough but we expected our quality would show in the end,' Gunn told the BBC.
'We definitely won't be happy when we look back at it and we'll have to improve for the next two games but it's three points at the World Cup. When the full time whistle went I was absolutely buzzing.'
'I thought we dropped a bit deep, even in the first half. They had two powerful guys up front who pushed us back. I was just screaming at the lads to try and stay up and stay as high as possible. We were just grinding it out and waiting for that full time whistle.'
'They were a good side. We fully prepared for that. I think they had a really good game, had a great game plan. I don't think we showed enough quality on the ball but we got the three points, we got the clean sheet and we won a game in the World Cup.'
'I think it's good that we started with three points and experienced the atmosphere here. Our next game is here, I think that helps us. That's the first one out the way and hopefully we can play the next one a bit more relaxed.'
