FOR any player, scoring a goal on your debut for your country is a special moment. For Stuart Findlay, his header that found the net for Scotland against San Marino on Sunday night was all the more special as it went some way to repaying the man who made it all possible for him.
The Kilmarnock centre-back paid tribute to his former boss at Rugby Park, with Steve Clarke not only rebuilding his career at club level, but now handing him the opportunity to pull on the dark blue of Scotland as well.
It has been something of a bumpy ride for Clarke so far in the national team dugout after the serenity of his Killie career, but Findlay is hoping that the players have calmed the waters a little for their boss after their thumping win over the minnows at a sodden Hampden Park.
“I basically owe my career to Steve Clarke over the past couple of years,” Findlay said. “From being in and out of a struggling Kilmarnock side to being one of the main players in a team which comes third in the league.
“There is only one guy I can thank for that. He put his trust in me, gave me the deal that I got at Kilmarnock and now he’s brought me into the Scotland squad.
“I owe him a lot and, hopefully, I have repaid him.
“My relationship with him is key. Thankfully he put his trust in me. I know people will say it’s San Marino, but you have to go out and put in a professional performance and hopefully I’ve done that.
“It was one of those games that you maybe don’t want when you’re a little bit nervous because you are expected to win by a heavy margin. But when you consider how bad the conditions were, to score six goals and keep a clean sheet, it was about doing what was expected of us and we did that.
“We got the three points and got a few goals so hopefully we sent the fans who turned out in that terrible weather home happy.”
Findlay’s goal was also a first for any Kilmarnock player in over half a century, with Tommy McLean’s strike against Wales in May 1969 the last time that a player representing the Ayrshire club scored for Scotland.
If he has his way though, Findlay will be representing his club on the international stage on a frequent basis, having made the most of injuries to the likes of Scott McKenna, John Souttar and David Bates to stake his claim.
“I had no idea I was the first Killie player to score for Scotland for 50 years,” he said.
“The goal was a bonus. The fact that I was in the team means that I had done enough in training to earn my place.
“That’s the proudest thing for me – to show that I can be in contention at this level and hopefully I’ll do that by putting in good performances.
“Growing up it was always my dream to make my debut for Scotland so to score a goal at Hampden Park is what everyone dreams about. It was a really special moment for me.
“Some people hope to score a special goal – an overhead kick of a freekick or something – but if the ball had fallen to me a yard out and toe-poked it in I would have been just as happy.
“This is a moment that I have dreamt of and I now want to kick on. I want to make sure I am not a flash in the plan and make sure I do everything in my power to stay at the level I’m at.
“Obviously I’m delighted – and also from a team point of view because hopefully we can move on from the Russia disappointment.
“We can now look forward to the final two qualifiers and try to build some momentum.”
A win over San Marino, as convincing and as welcome as it was, is unlikely to convince many weary members of the Tartan Army of a bright new dawn for the national team just yet, but Findlay is hoping that wins in the last two fixtures of a forgettable qualifying campaign can set Scotland up for the massive play-off games in March.
“If we can build from here, hopefully, it can be a starting point for us,” he said.
“Cyprus and Kazakhstan will probably be more to the level of what the teams are going to be like [in the play-off], so if we get six points from those games and take that into the play-offs, there is no reason why we can’t make the Euros.”
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