Craig Gordon, the 43-year-old Scottish national team goalkeeper, world cup Along with teammates who weren’t even born when he made his national team debut in 2004.
Scotland manager Steve Clarke announced on Tuesday his 26-man squad for his country’s first World Cup in 28 years, including Gordon, one of three goalkeepers who played just four league games for the club all season.
Gordon will become the second-oldest player in the World Cup’s 96-year history if he takes the field in North America, where Scotland are drawn with Brazil, Morocco and Haiti. Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El Hadary He was 45 years old when he played in the 2018 World Cup.
Gordon played three games for long-time Scottish Premiership side Heart of Midlothian in January. Celtic aim for victory on Saturdaybut is dealing with a shoulder injury. Two other goalkeepers, likely first choice Angus Gunn from Nottingham Forest and Liam Kelly from Rangers, were also less popular at their clubs.
Coach Clarke expressed his confidence in the trio, as “as long as the goalkeepers are giving their maximum effort in training, I feel they can get in and play a lot of games.”
“We’ve got good reports back from Hearts,” the coach said of Gordon. “Craig assures us that he is fully healthy and deserves to play as he played as part of the qualifying campaign.”
young scottish man with speed
Clarke has two options with wing speed in Bournemouth’s 20-year-old Ben Gannon-Doak and 19-year-old Findlay Curtis, who is on loan at Kilmarnock from Rangers and has impressed in recent months.
Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland has also been selected and will lead the attack in Scotland’s World Cup opener against Haiti in Boston on June 14.
Scotland, who have never made it out of their group in the past eight World Cups, will play Morocco in Boston and finish their group with Brazil in Miami on June 24.
italian connection
Napoli’s Scott McTominay leads a strong group of midfielders playing for the Italian club, but Clarke did not include Udinese’s 19-year-old Lennon Miller, who was expected to be named.
Clark said he had “five very difficult conversations” with players who joined the team for the March warm-up but were not selected Tuesday.
“And I think that’s probably the most difficult thing to do because Lennon is so young,” he said.
Central defenders include Rangers’ John Souter, whose younger brother Harry Souter is set to represent Australia at his second consecutive World Cup. Wrexham.
The team captain is Andy Robertson, Liverpool’s veteran left-back who will be leaving Anfield at the end of the season.
___
Scottish Quad:
Goalkeepers: Angus Gunn (Nottingham Forest), Craig Gordon (Heart of Midlothian), Liam Kelly (Rangers).
Defenders: Aaron Hickey (Brentford), Nathan Patterson (Everton), Andy Robertson (Liverpool), Kieran Tierney (Celtic), Grant Hanley (Hibernian), Jack Hendry (Al Etifaq), John Souter (Rangers), Scott McKenna (Dynamo Zagreb), Dom Higham (Wrexham), Anthony Ralston (Celtic).
Midfielders: Scott McTominay (Napoli), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Billy Gilmour (Napoli), Ryan Christie (Bournemouth), Lewis Ferguson (Bologna), Kenny McLean (Norwich), Ben Gannon-Doak (Bournemouth), Findlay Curtis (Rangers).
Forwards: Lawrence Shankland (Heart of Midlothian), Lyndon Dykes (Charlton), Che Adams (Turin), George Hurst (Ipswich), Ross Stewart (Southampton).
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
