Aston Villa's John McGinn thrilled with Scotland's 'amazing' campaign after second straight Euros qualification
Villa skipper John McGinn hailed an ‘amazing’ campaign alongside his Scotland team-mates after booking a place at their second successive European Championships finals.
The midfielder put in a man-of-the-match performance for Scotland on Sunday night as they played out a 3-3 draw with Norway.
The result confirmed a place in Germany next summer.
And McGinn said in an interview with BBC Scotland: “The campaign’s been amazing.
“I’m just so proud of the way the boys have handled it.
“We have a team and a group of players that the country are so proud of and I think that showed at the end. I think the punters were a bit surprised we had actually qualified, it had a strange atmosphere, but it’s hopefully one we can get used to.”
Scotland qualification for the last Euros was only confirmed after nerve-shredding back-to-back penalty shootout successes in their play-off victories over against Israel and Serbia.
This time was a less fraught affair, with qualification assured with two group games to spare.
And McGinn jokes: “It’s not like us!”
He continued: “The main thing is we’re going to Germany. We have games now to prepare until then. There was a lot said about Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard missing, but we had a lot missing too and that can’t be forgotten. Qualifying the last time was incredible.
“This time has been strange. It’s not like us to qualify early. We’ve got a platform to build on now.”
Meanwhile, head coach Steve Clarke said: “It was nice – and nice for the supporters – to say thank you to the team, a nice night for the team and staff to thank the supporters. It’s always nice to qualify for a major tournament.”
