- Robertson has not received the same plaudits as Scotland international John McGinn.
- Captain under pressure has a chance to make history
- Listen to “It’s All Kicking Off”! “Gareth Southgate’s Luke Shaw call is awful! Another mistake leaves England in a one-sided situation.”
Andy Robertson’s status as Scotland’s most decorated player has perhaps been more of a burden than a blessing for the defender over the last five years.
To the rest of the world, Robertson is the star and golden boy of Steve Clarke’s team, the player the south of Scotland wish was English, so it may come as a surprise to those who regularly watch Robertson play for Liverpool that he is not a favourite with the Tartan Brigade.
The scrutiny at home is always greater than elsewhere and being captain means Robertson carries even more pressure on his shoulders.
The defender was just 23 years old in 2018 and was still establishing himself in Liverpool’s first team.
Expectations grew north of the border as he steadily became a key member of Jurgen Klopp’s successful Liverpool team, winning the Champions League and Premier League.
Robertson is the only man to have captained Scotland in a major tournament since 1998. Earlier this month he set a new captaincy record by wearing the captain’s armband 49 times, surpassing the previous record held by George Young. Tonight he could make history again by becoming the first man to lead his country to a major knockout stage.
Despite this, some believe Robertson has failed to live up to expectations.
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Scotland fans took Germany by storm last week but it wasn’t their captain’s name they were singing in the streets and in the stands.
John McGinn is undoubtedly a supporters’ favourite, a cult hero and the man some would love to see wearing the armband.
It doesn’t seem to matter that McGinn has underperformed in his opening two games of the tournament. His fine performances so far and his consistency at Aston Villa have made him a beloved and revered figure. There is pride in Robertson’s achievements across Scotland, but strangely he does not seem to receive the same praise.
Robertson was already facing questions when he was given the captain’s armband as to whether he should start at left-back and whether Kieran Tierney, who had to play either at right-back or centre-back, should play in his team-mate’s place.
However, Robertson’s suitability for the captaincy role came into question in 2019 when the defender required emergency surgery after developing an abscess on the right side of his mouth, causing him to miss Scotland’s first Euro 2020 qualifier in Kazakhstan.
Robertson is believed to have requested to fly solo after the operation, but the request was turned down for medical and bureaucratic reasons.
The resurgence continued as Scotland suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat.
Despite Robertson indicating he would be available for the subsequent match against San Marino, his commitment to the national team was called into question.
“Some people [the surgery] “I thought it was a filling, but it was clearly more than that,” Robertson said of the surgery, which required the extraction of a tooth and four stitches.
“The problem was, they had to get it out within 24 hours of it being found, because if it had ruptured and entered the bloodstream, it could have been disastrous. I really wanted to be there, but it just wasn’t possible.”
Robertson faced further criticism after taking part in Liverpool’s end-of-season parade ahead of Scotland’s 2022 World Cup play-off match between Ukraine.
Robertson had been publicly supported by managers including Clarke and Ally McCoist, but fans criticised the defender for drinking beer 72 hours before the match, and Scotland’s subsequent defeat drew further anger from the Tartan Brigade.
Was their anger justified, or was Robertson simply an easy target? A common question asked of players who have been successful at club but less so with their country is why they can’t repeat their performances on the international stage.
Of course, Robertson is playing against players at a completely different level to Scotland at Liverpool, the two teams have different systems and he has more freedom to play up front for Liverpool than he does for Scotland.
When Robertson first came into the national team, he played without fear. After his memorable debut, then-Scotland manager Gordon Strachan said: “When Andy came in there and picked up the ball for the first time, he drove it about 30 yards and I thought, ‘Brilliant’. There was no grey area and I’m just going to do what I have to do. That first touch was a joy to watch.”
Perhaps it was performances like this, and that goal against England in 2014, that led people to think he could become a sort of Scotland’s Gareth Bale, capable of winning games singlehandedly and elevating others to his own level.
Has the weight of the armband changed the way Robertson approaches playing for the national team?
The defender himself acknowledged last year that he needed to grow and mature before he could take on a leadership role.
“It took me a little while to get used to wearing the armband,” Robertson said.
“When I got it, I was so young and I felt like I could solve anything. I took on a lot. As you get older, you realize you just have to control what you can control.”
Robertson’s journey from Hampden Park ball boy to Scotland captain is a rags-to-riches story and a story of tenacity: after being released by Celtic at 14 for being “too small”, he played part-time for Queen’s Park and famously posted on social media that life at that age was “broken and boring”.
His humble origins are no doubt one of the reasons why he donates generously to Glasgow Foodbank and set up his own academy to give more young people in Scotland opportunities to play football.
Although Robertson has lived outside of Scotland for the past 10 years, he has never forgotten where he came from.
With Scotland’s defence significantly weakened by the absence of Tierney and the suspension of Ryan Porteous, Robertson knows he must step up if his team is to beat Hungary and reach the last 16 of a major tournament for the first time.
Robertson came to the Euros after a difficult, injury-plagued season with Liverpool, and while no single Scotland player was given the thumbs up in the 5-1 defeat to Germany, Robertson was one of the players who improved significantly against Switzerland. His run through the defence to lay down a pass for Callum McGregor, who assisted Scott McTominay’s goal, showed a glimpse of the Robertson Liverpool fans see every week, and the Robertson Scotland fans crave.
In 2014, before his move to Hull City, a photograph surfaced of Robertson and three of his Dundee United teammates, John Sutter, Ryan Gould and John McGovern, playing football in a local park. Back then, Robertson was just a boy with a dream. Ten years on, he has a chance to make history. And if that happens, the Tartan Army might finally be satisfied.