What could have been for Ben Gannon-Doak had he stayed at Celtic.
The 20-year-old left Celtic for Liverpool in 2022 after making a handful of appearances, and now the Bournemouth star is shining on world football’s biggest stage.
Gannon-Doak started Scotland’s opening World Cup victory over Haiti in Boston on Saturday, leaving Scott Brown in awe.
Brown, who was still at Parkhead when Gannon-Doak was rising through the youth ranks, praised the young forward as the ‘main man’ for certain spells of the victory over Haiti, as he told BBC One.
“I thought, especially in the first half, he was the main player for us,” said Brown. “Delivery-wise. One-v-one. You always fancy him to create something.
“But he really, really fancied it. The left-back will be having nightmares early doors, because he can go left and right.”
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Ex-Celtic winger Ben Gannon-Doak shines on the World Cup stage
Boyhood Celtic fan John McGinn scored the only goal of the game, but to nobody’s surprise, Gannon-Doak was part of the build-up.
It was his direct run and ball into the penalty box that eventually led to McGinn waiting to deflect the ball home, sending the Tartan Army into party mode.
Brown explained what he loves about Gannon-Doak’s game, as he continues to rise after leaving the champions of Scotland.
“Joe (Hart) talked about the confidence levels, and he crossed paths when he was at Celtic,” said Brown.
“He isn’t always to go to feet. He is willing to go in behind. That causes teams problems, especially at that point in time. It was 20-25 minutes into the game. You want Ben Gannon-Doak one-v-one.
“This is where you want him. Nice directness, and we get the goal from it. Him just having that little bit of quality in that final third, and we end up scoring a goal. You want to see players like that.
“When he goes off, he is a big miss, because he is the pace. He is the quality – the amount of willingness that he puts in defending as well is just exceptional.”
Gannon-Doak’s stats for Scotland against Haiti
Gannon-Doak started on the right flank and played 75 minutes before being subbed off by Steve Clarke.
If it weren’t for the all-action forward cramping towards the end of the game, he probably would have stayed on the pitch for the entire game.
But Sofascore rated Gannon-Doak’s performance at a very respectable 7.2.
- Total shots: 2
- Key passes: 2
- Accurate crosses: 1
- Passes in the opposition half: 11/15 (73%)
- Touches: 39
- Successful dribbles: 2
- Was fouled: 1
- Total carrying distance: 139.1m
- Carries: 17
- Progressive carries: 3
- Ground duels won: 4
- Sofascore rating: 7.2
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