Scott McTominay stood on the touchline at Hampden drenched to the bone and yet fired up to the high heavens. It was June 2023; the rainy night against Georgia. A biblical downpour. A match in peril. Weegies with squeegees and all of that.
The visitors did not want to play but McTominay most certainly did. He stared them out when they finally appeared and the action began, long after the scheduled kick-off. Hampden was alive that night – and so was the Manchester United midfielder. He scored in a 2-0 win. Of course he did.
That was one of seven goals he scored in the group. He finished joint-fifth in the goals table, behind Romelu Lukaku and Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane.
Remove the penalties – all of McTominay’s were from open play – and he goes ahead of Mbappe and Kane and level with Ronaldo in second.
But here’s the stat that might take the eyes out of your head. McTominay scored his seven goals from only eight efforts on target – a supernatural return that may be without equal in any campaign in any country in any era.
Scotland fans sing about ‘Super’ John McGinn and understandably so, but McTominay has become their hero, too. He’s their defensive midfielder and their attacking midfielder, their one-time centre-half who could do a convincing job as centre-forward, given the chance.
To call McTominay versatile would be putting it mildly.
Less about exquisite passing and more about raw power, stamina, dog and finishing ability, we haven’t seen him in recent friendlies and his absence has caused palpitations among the Tartan Army.
Apparently, he has bruising on a leg. Nothing to worry about. He’s played 51 times for club and country this season. A rest is no harm. He’ll be out there against the Germans on Friday. A nation breathes again.
Jose Mourinho called McTominay a “special personality” and famously invented an end-of-season award when Manchester United manager just so he could give it to his midfielder. A fancy candleholder, if you’re interested.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer called him a “monster of a human being”. Ralf Rangnick singled him out as a future United captain, a comment that went against the grain in that McTominay has had to endure multiple spells when a fair chunk of the Old Trafford support didn’t think him good enough to warm the bench.
It’s a recurring theme in his United story.
Erik ten Hag was iffy about him in the beginning, but recently said that McTominay would “give his life” for the club.
The truth is that had West Ham upped their bid last summer from £30m to £40m then it’s likely that United would have done the deal. Pure profit after all. McTominay has been their boy since he was five years old.
The fact that they didn’t sell him has been a blessing. McTominay scored 10 goals last season, his role now modified from a holding midfielder to one that gives him the freedom to crash into the opposition box more often.
He scored both in a 2-1 win against Brentford in October, despite only coming on in the 87th minute. He scored both in a 2-1 win over Chelsea in December. He scored the winner against Aston Villa in February and the opener against Liverpool in an epic 4-3 win in the quarter-final of the FA Cup.
In more than two decades only four other central midfielders have scored more times in a single campaign – Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba, Paul Scholes and Roy Keane.
Unlike those, he’s not the big name. What Mourinho loved about him was his attitude. In the team or not in the team, he was still the same driven player.
That low-maintenance nature is redolent of Darren Fletcher in the time of Sir Alex Ferguson, a no-fuss operator who didn’t always start but who was always a selfless team man.
‘Never give up’
McTominay is the product of a dad from Helensburgh who never missed an opportunity to bring his son across the border to bond with family and folklore.
There’s a story told by Alex McLeish about the time the then Scotland manager went on an epic journey through the worst of the Beast from the East in order to win McTominay over. The way Big Eck tells it, his mission was so arduous that even Bear Grylls would have balked at it.
As much as McTominay appreciated the effort – Gareth Southgate sent a text – he was always going to make himself available to the land of his father’s birth. The two loves of his football life – Manchester United and Scotland. Always.
We see him now as a 6ft 4in powerhouse but only those close to him remember him as a thin 5ft 6in wannabe.
He never played under-age football for his country. He spent two years in a gym. Resilience defined him then and defines him still.
He said something in the wake of that dramatic cameo against Brentford that captured his personality. “Never give up, man” he remarked on United’s late, late act of escapology. “You never give up, no matter the situation in life. Never give up. Never throw the towel in.”
These are words he’s lived by. If he’d not believed in himself he might have succumbed when the bigger names were signed in his position.
Pogba was already there when he made his debut in 2017, then came Nemanja Matic for £40m, Fred for £52m, Donny van de Beek for £35m and Casemiro for £65m.
There was also Christian Eriksen, Marcel Sabitzer, Sofyan Amrabat and more. McTominay has played 43 games for United this season. He played 89 minutes of their FA Cup final victory.
United folk will talk about the quarter-final against Liverpool. He scored a goal, assisted for Marcus Rashford, won 10 duels (more than any other player on the pitch), won 100% of his tackles and made the headed clearance from a Liverpool corner that sparked that breakaway for Amad Diallo’s winner. His energy levels on the day were outrageous.
In uncertain times and under new ownership at Old Trafford, nobody can predict the future, but for McTominay the only thing that will matter right now is Germany on Friday night, then Switzerland, then Hungary.
As much as United fans can talk about his big moments this season, Scotland supporters can speak for an age about the things he has done to get Scotland to Munich. The goals, the drive, the endless warrior spirit.
They’ll hope he’s got something special left in the tank. With McTominay and the magical run he’s on, you can almost bank on it.