“… AND to think he used to play for Queen’s Park”. So all-pervasive was Andy Robertson’s Roy of the Rovers-style personal journey from amateur lower division Scottish football to gracing this year’s Champions League final with Liverpool that even social media started having a little bit of fun about it all.
There aren’t many out there any more who aren’t aware of the rags-to-riches nature of the career of this humble 24-year-old superstar from Glasgow, but it really would be Scrooge-like if we couldn’t wallow in the success of one of our own at Christmas time.
Robertson, of course, would be the first to admit that just playing in the biggest match in world football isn’t enough. He was in it to win it, something which was beyond Robertson and the remainder of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side in this showdown with Real Madrid from the moment their hapless goalkeeper Loris Karius – perhaps mitigated by a sleakit dig from Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos – committed the second of his two howlers on the night.
Being robbed by Karim Benzema when attempting to roll the ball out was bad enough – the Frenchman simply stuck it into an empty net – but this one was all but done when he was deceived by a long-range strike from Gareth Bale which looked to be heading straight into his arms.
This analysis, however, forgets the incredible overhead kick from the Welshman which was sandwiched between them, the kind of effort which no goalkeeper in world football could do anything about. It re-established Madrid’s lead after Sadio Mane’s first-half equaliser in a match where Liverpool talisman Mo Salah also had his shoulder apparently deliberately dislocated by evil genius Ramos.
But win, lose or draw it was great just to see a Scot back in there mixing it on this stage, the first native of this country to start the showpiece match of European and world football since Paul Lambert for Borussia Dortmund 21 years ago, even if Darren Fletcher – twice an unused sub in this extravaganza – would surely have had a place on that list were it not for the harshest of suspensions back in 2008.
While Celtic won this trophy back in 1967 with 11 men from the West of Scotland, Robertson was a worthy successor to the raft of Scots which Liverpool usually had in their ranks when they were regulars in the fixture in the late 70s and early 80s. It is high time young Scottish players had a role model like him to aspire to.
And it was entirely typical of the 24-year-old that he shouldn’t look out of place, his main contribution on the night was a goal-saving last-ditch tackle on Cristiano Ronaldo when all hope appeared lost.
That pretty much sums up this youngster’s entire career. Let go by Celtic when a teenager, Robertson washed up at Queen’s Park, selling Scotland tickets and working in the club shop, to help pay the bills. Impressing in the lower divisions, even when Rangers rocked up, he soon had a move to Dundee United, with whom he reached the Scottish Cup final. After a period at Hull City alongside such talents as England and Leicester City centre-half Harry Maguire, it was off to Liverpool, where he had to bide his time before making himself indispensable.
The fairytale looks set to run and run as Christmas 2018 arrives, a bit like the energetic Robertson himself. The player has ascended to Scotland captain and helped secure a play-off place at least for Euro 2020. With former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho praising his energy levels recently with the words ‘I am still tired from watching him’, the 24-year-old is sitting at the summit of the FA Premier League with Liverpool, with talk of a new contract doing the rounds. It would be foolish to rule out the idea of a return journey in the Champions League with the Anfield side next year. And to think he used to play for Queen’s Park . . .
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