John McGinn hails ‘surreal’ moment as Aston Villa star fires Scotland to historic win

Aston Villa star John McGinn described the “surreal” feeling of earning Scotland’s first World Cup win in more than three decades.

McGinn’s first-half strike against Haiti helped secure Scotland’s first World Cup victory since 1990, sending his country top of Group C after the opening round of matches.

The 31-year-old’s deflected effort sent the travelling Scotland supporters into delirium as they took a significant step towards reaching the knockout stages for the first time.

“It wasn’t my best of goals, but who cares?” said McGinn.

“It was all a bit surreal, to be honest. When it hit the back of the net, you could just see the Scotland fans in the stadium going wild…I don't think it's really sunk in yet, but it's just a great feeling.

“These opportunities don't come around too often. We said before at major tournaments, at the EUROs, did we bring our best? Or did we leave the tournament saying we could have done more or we could have shown more?

“That's what I tried to bring to the game tonight. Sometimes things didn't come off but I promised myself that I would be positive and try things. If it didn't come off, get the ball and try it again.”

Ben Gannon-Doak impressed for Scotland and played a part in McGinn’s goal, bursting down the right flank before delivering a cross that eventually fell to the Villa midfielder.

The Bournemouth winger paid tribute to the match-winner, saying: “First of all, he [McGinn] is just a 24/7 wind-up! But he's brilliant. He’s been through many highs and many lows in a Scotland shirt, so I can’t imagine what he was feeling when the ball hit the back of the net.”

Scotland now turn their attention to their next Group C fixture against Morocco on Friday.