At last; we’re sure Etta James wasn’t singing about Anthony Ralston making his Scotland debut, but she might as well have been.
The Celtic Academy graduate, now beloved by Hoops fans after a blistering start to the season, was seemingly ignored by Scotland boss Steve Clarke. However, he made his senior international debut on quite the occasion.
Scotland roared past Denmark at Hampden last night, to seal a play-off place for World Cup 2022 in Qatar. Ralston, brought on in the latter stages of a famous win [BBC].
The Tartan Army saw their side beat the world’s tenth best team, according to FIFA.
Mind you, football’s governing body have England fifth, and they couldn’t beat us either.
Ralston, who turns 23 today, was subbed on for Kieran Tierney, another Celtic Academy graduate. There’s a certain cosmic poetry to that, isn’t there? Or is one of the biggest producers of talent in Scotland doing as it’s meant to?
Either way; a very good moment. Ralston, by numerous metrics the Scottish Premiership’s best player so far this season, certainly deserved it. Whether he can make a more permanent mark for Scotland, though, remains to be seen.
Interestingly, he came on to play left-back. He’s been keeping Croatian international Josip Juranovic from playing right-back for Celtic. What a time.
“Coincidence? I think not”; Celtic supporters have fun backing Anthony Ralston for Scotland
Yes, it gets said a lot, but who could’ve predicted this in the summer? Anthony Ralston was seen as a last resort, instead of an automatic pick. The clamour for him to play for Scotland has been passionate and justified.
Good times indeed for the birthday Bhoy. And while he celebrates his birthday, Celtic and Scotland fans are singing the praises of Anthony Ralston.
Here are some of the best responses online to his international debut:
Read more: How “rare” bad game put Celtic off £67m-rated star Milinkovic-Savic
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