Bayan kusan shekaru talatin da ba a shiga Kofin Duniya ba, Scotland sun bayar da ɗaya daga cikin waɗanda suka fi damun jijiyoyi a buɗewa da za a iya tunanin — nasara ƙaramar 1-0 akan Haiti a Boston Stadium, wanda ya bar Tartan Army suna rantsuwa tsakanin farin ciki da firgici a mafi yawan minti 90.
Bikin kafin fara wasa
Sa'o'i da yawa kafin fara wasan dare, ayarin motocin makaranta masu launin rawaya sun ja-jaga a hankali a hanyar I-95, tare da magoya bayan Scotland suna rataye daga kowace taga — suna waƙa, suna girgiza tuta, kuma suna biki a kusan mil ɗaya a sa'a. Yanayin a Boston yana da wutar lantarki. Ƙungiyoyin magoya baya sun mamaye kowane kusurwa na titi, raƙuman launuka da hayaniya waɗanda suka yi kama da dawowar gida kamar yadda yake tafiya nesa.
A cikin Boston Stadium, yanayin ya kai wani matakin daban gaba ɗaya. Babban allo a bayan manyan kofuna biyu sun kama kowace rawa da hawaye tsakanin magoya baya yayin da Flower of Scotland ta yi ta ihu a filin wasa da iko wanda ya bayyana, idan zai yiwu, ma fi girma a ƙasar waje da a gida.
Burin McGinn da aka sauya ya tabbata ya isa
Scotland sun fara da ƙarfi amma a hankali sun rasa ikon wasan. Haiti, waɗanda ke matsayi na 83 a duniya, sun girma a wasan kuma sun kasance — a tsawon lokaci — ƙungiyar da ta fi kyau. An yi gaggawar burin Scotland.
Ya zo a minti na 32, lokacin da John McGinn ya ci gaba kuma ya buge harbi wanda ya sami hanyarsa zuwa ragar Haiti ta hanyar sauye-sauye biyu masu jere. Bai kasance mafi tsafta ba, kuma babu wanda yayi iƙirarin haka. Amma shi ne buri na farko na Scotland a Kofin Duniya tun tsara — ta wannan ma'aunin kadai, wani lokaci na kyakkyawa mai tsabta.
Buri ya ɗaga Tartan Army, amma Scotland ba su taɓa fitar da kansu da tazara mai kyau ba. Manyan 'yan wasan su — McGinn, Scott McTominay, da Billy Gilmour, wanda ya rasa saboda rauni — ba su sami damar nuna iko ba. Gudummawar McTominay mafi lura ita ce harbi da ya buga gungumen wuta. Ƙwararren ɗan wasan Scotland shi ne, a mamaki, Ben Gannon-Doak.
Haiti suna matsawa don daidaituwa
Da minti 12 suka rage, Scotland suna tsaye sosai maimakon sarrafa. Tartan Army, suna nuna ɗan barkwanci na duhu da aka san su da shi, sun fara waƙar 'No Scotland, No Party' — waka ta izgili ga abin da ya zama azaba maimakon biki.
Frantzdy Pierrot ya kusan daidaitawa lokacin da ya tashi sama da Grant Hanley kuma ya kai ƙwallon kai kadan daga bayan kofar. Bangaren Scotland da magoya bayan sun ɗaure numfashi. Pierrot yana da wata dama kuma ya rasa. A wani lokaci, Andy Robertson ya tunkude ƙwallon kamar rayuwarsa ta dogara da shi — wanda, a wannan lokacin, kusan gaskiya ne.
Ƙararrawar ƙarshe ta kawo wuraren sauƙaƙewa maimakon nasara mai tsabta. Ɗan wasan ƙofar Angus Gunn ya taƙaita yanayin da daidai:
«Idan muka kalli baya, ba za mu yi farin ciki ba, amma mun ci nasara a wasa a Kofin Duniya, don haka…»
An tara nasara, kalubale ya zo
Maki uku suna kan tebur. An guje wa shan kashi. Amma Scotland — waɗanda za su fuskanci Morocco bayan mako guda a Boston — dole ne su yi mafi kyau, kuma sun san haka. Kamar yadda McGinn da kansa ya ce, ƙungiyar na da ƙarin kararraki da ba a yi amfani da su ba tukuna.
Kocin Steve Clarke ya faɗa a sarari: «Kowa ya gaya mana cewa dole ne mu ci wannan wasan, kuma mun ci shi.» Wannan sakamako, ko da kuwa ya ɗauki wahala kamar yadda ya kasance, yana buɗe damammaki. Bikin zai ci gaba — amma wani dare mai matsin lamba ya jira gaba.
