Scotland's World Cup hero opens up on being told to shoot more

However, asking the Tartan Army to resist the urge to do so each time Kenny McLean picks up the ball within the 50-60 yard range of the opposition’s goal is probably futile.

The midfielder has become accustomed to being willed to take a pot shot ever since his extraordinary strike against Denmark in November’s World Cup qualifying crunch game identified him as a player with not only the ability to try something out of the ordinary but also the chutzpah. Such mass encouragement happened very obviously against Curacao recently and he actually responded to the loud prompting by letting fly from just outside the box when he might otherwise have passed.

Goalkeeper Eloy Room made a good save.

It will be no different in Boston on Saturday night should he feature. It happens every game and the fact it’s a World Cup opener and one of Scotland’s biggest-ever matches won’t change that.

If McLean gets the ball anywhere in or around the opposition’s half, up will go the cry: “Shhhoooot!” He admits that it does play on his mind more now and he’s perhaps more inclined to have a shot – and why not? One wonders how it feels to be the nearest thing to a football computer game made flesh - it sometimes feels as if the fans are manually directing McLean on the pitch.

“Obviously a bit of pressure does come on me to shoot a bit more,” he says. “Thankfully I had that moment back in November and thankfully the fans got the joy from it; the same as the players, the staff, the country did. I had a shot against Curacao - so I listened once!

"It was OK. But I won’t be doing that too often. As I mentioned after that [Denmark] game, I could be getting my backside kicked by the manager!”

He is of course referring to that colossal 50-yarder that secured Scotland’s passage to these finals at a time when another goal for Denmark would have meant the jeopardy of a play-off.

While it will remain one of Scottish football’s best-ever moments, and no one can now regret McLean’s audacity, there is a parallel universe where the midfielder flunked the shot and Denmark then took advantage of the on-field chaos to grab another equaliser. McLean knows that all he’d ever have heard after that is: why did you not run the ball into the corner? Mercifully, this didn't turn out to be the case.

All McLean had to declare on his arrival in the States last week was his genius although he’d give up all the extra personal glory if Scotland could make history by reaching the second stage.

‘I would switch it in a minute’

“That moment wasn’t just about me,” he says. “That was about us getting here and now we are here, we want to do more. I would switch it in a minute.”

It’s not quite accurate to say he will be defined by this moment for ever more, McLean has enjoyed a long and storied career and chalked up 700 career appearances when he came on as substitute in the 4-0 win over Bolivia last Saturday. The players all signed their popular teammate's shirt.

“I’m 34, I’m not getting any younger,” he says. “To reach a milestone like that was pretty special. Doing it in a Scotland jersey made it even more special. For me it is the pinnacle of anyone’s career and we have an opportunity now to play in a World Cup. To hit that milestone the other day obviously was amazing but 701 hopefully is going to be better.”

Ask Norwich fans how he will be remembered and they will recall with fondness the time he donned the Mayor of Norwich’s hat at a town hall reception and later sat up drinking ’til dawn after helping the Carrow Road club secure promotion to the Premier League in 2019.

He recently signed a new two-year deal with the Championship club. The 800-match mark could be another target. There’s no reason to stop. Recent squad recruit Tyler Fletcher has already spoken of being wowed by the veteran’s performances in training. McLean returns the compliment to the Manchester United teenager, who is making the most of his opportunity after replacing the injured Billy Gilmour at the 11th hour.

“I spoke to the older lads after his first session, I saw the quality he had,” McLean says. “I saw the ability, the way he received the ball, the small things. I could see it right away. Throughout the week he grew in confidence. I could see that he was starting to express himself more. Obviously us as older lads, we want to bring the best out of the younger lads to help them express themselves.

“We are in good hands going forward,” he adds. “Obviously the one who missed out was Lennon (Miller), who again his ability is through the roof, his ceiling is so high.

“There is more opportunity for him in the future as well. Tyler is here just now and I hope he takes this experience in, the opportunity he has got. He is doing himself no harm in training, let me tell you that.”

As for McLean, it seemed appropriate that we were talking to him on the anniversary of another iconic Scotland goal – Archie Gemmill’s solo effort against the Netherlands at the otherwise disastrous 1978 World Cup.

It did not ultimately count for anything. McLean is desperate to ensure the mighty strike of his that stamped Scotland’s ticket to the States is recalled in fifty years’ time for paving the way to even greater deeds.

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