Gordon: Scotland Found ‘Luck We Haven’t Had’ in Key Victory

Having earned his 78th cap for Scotland, Craig Gordon expressed his view that Scotland experienced a shift in fortune during their vital Nations League victory against Croatia, a result he hopes to build upon in the match against Poland scheduled for Monday. The team led by Steve Clarke achieved their initial victory in ten competitive fixtures, courtesy of John McGinn’s goal scored late in the game, which occurred after Petar Sucic of the opposing team was sent off in the first half due to accumulating two bookings. This outcome sustained Scotland’s aspirations of maintaining their League A standing and simultaneously enhanced their prospects for a beneficial seeding in the World Cup qualifying draw. Gordon conceded that the team’s performance level was not as high as some of their previous Nations League showings, but he stressed the paramount importance of the result, especially considering their recent sequence of matches without a win. “Probably not one of the better performances,” stated Gordon, 41. “We didn’t hit the heights of the performances that we have done in some of the defeats but we got a win and that was the most important thing. We got a little luck tonight that we maybe haven’t had in the last number of games and we managed to see it through and eventually get the win.” To secure a second-place finish in their group, Scotland is required to defeat Poland, hope that Croatia experiences a loss against Portugal, and achieve a three-goal swing. Nevertheless, Gordon indicated that Scotland will not be preoccupied with potential permutations leading into Monday’s fixture in Warsaw, with the primary objective being to secure an additional three points. “We just need to keep winning matches,” he commented. “Now that we’ve got that first one, we need to try and back that up now and then we’ll see where that takes us. Everybody will be talking about all the kind of permutations that are possible going into this last game. But for us it’s about going there and then trying to win.” Gordon successfully preserved Scotland’s clean sheet prior to Sucic receiving a red card, executing several crucial saves, notably one with his legs against Andrej Kramaric. “[I was] a bit late to see it,” he further explained. “My body weight was on the other leg and just managed to stretch out a long enough leg to get my big toe to it. It was important. I think first goal was always going to be vitally important. If we didn’t get that then it was going to be a difficult night to get back into it so important to get the clean sheet.”