Hibs star 'almost choked me out' amid Scotland goal celebrations jokes Greece hero after fulfilling lifetime dream
The Bologna midfielder celebrated his first international goal on a dramatic night at Hampden Park
Lewis Ferguson has jokingly admitted that he was left gasping for air and had to save his own life after fulfilling a lifetime dream by scoring his first international goal in Scotland’s 3-1 World Cup qualifying win over Greece.
The Bologna midfielder got off the mark for his country on his 19th cap after firing high into the roof of the net to put Steve Clarke’s side in front for the first time in the game with 10 minutes left to play.
Not known for his goal scoring prowess, the 26-year-old’s last strike came in a Serie A clash against Roma back in January. On this occasion, he was denied the chance to wheel away and lead his own celebrations as Hibs centre-back Grant Hanley embraced him.
“I feel like I’ve not scored for such a long time, so it was nice to see it hit the back of the net and get my first goal for my country,” Ferguson admitted.
“Since I was a kid I’ve dreamt of that moment. It's everyone’s dream. When you’re growing up, first and foremost it’s to play for your country, and then to score for your country.
“It’s such a proud moment and I'm just so happy to finally get it. I didn’t know it was my 19th cap, so it's been a long time coming.
The former Hamilton and Aberdeen star grinned: “I was just wanting big Granty to take his hand off my neck. I was getting choked out! I was trying to run, but Granty definitely wasn't letting me go. So, I just had to try and save my life and stop.”
Scotland’s set-piece threat pays dividends
The Scots had fallen behind after 62 minutes but were back on level terms within 120 seconds through Ryan Christie before Ferguson struck and substitute Lyndon Dykes iced the cake by capitalising on a goalkeeper error in stoppage time.
The first two goals came via set-pieces, which proved to be Scotland’s main threat all evening and it’s an area that Ferguson admits they have spent plenty of time working on.
“It’s just such an important part of the game now and we work on it,” he said. “We go into a lot of detail during the training sessions.
“We don’t get a lot of time between meeting up and playing the game, so we need to be focused in training, take on the detail and the information and try and carry that out, and I think we’ve been a good threat from set pieces.”