John McGinn breaks another Scottish football record with Cyprus strike as all-time immortality edges closer
The Aston Villa superstar netted his 17th international goal in his 57th appearance for Scotland.
Super John McGinn is now Scotland's all-time top scorer in the European Championships.
The Aston Villa superstar netted his 17th international goal in his 57th appearance for Scotland as Steve Clarke's team eased to an impressive win over Cyprus that put them within touching distance of qualifying. And the Tartan Army favourite can now claim to be the top scorer at the Euros for Scotland after netting his ninth goal in the competition.
He overtook Ally McCoist, who scored eight goals both in the qualifiers and at the Finals at Euro 96, to lead the way for Scotland in the European Championships. McGinn loves a goal at the Euros and, in order, he has now scored against Russia, a hat-trick against San Marino, a double against Kazakhstan and three goals in three games against Cyprus. It's only taken his 14 qualifiers to reach the tally too.
McCoist's eight goals at the Euros came against Belgium, Romania, Bulgaria, Switzerland, San Marino twice and Greece. He also scored a wonder goal against the Swiss at Euro 96 in Birmingham. McGinn and McCoist are ahead of Steven Fletcher, Kenny Miller and Sir Kenny Dalglish, who all netted seven goals in Euros qualifiers.
It means McGinn is now 13 goals behind the joint-highest EVER total of 30 held by Denis Law and Kenny Dalglish. And while that's still some way in the distance, he admits it is something bearing on his mind.
“I was probably made aware of the total a few months ago, but it wasn’t on my mind out there These things are in the back of my mind. As long as we qualify for tournaments, then there’s more games and more opportunities to score.
“Listen, I have got a wee eye on it. Obviously seeing Harry Kane breaking the English record has given me a bit of hunger as I know what it would mean to me.
“To be alongside those legends is a bit strange for me, but to be up there would be a dream come true. Hopefully it doesn’t stop here. Kenny with 30? It’s mental to even by thinking about it.
“The manager said it’s the first time we’ve won the first five qualifying games for a long time. So we are breaking records along the way. It’s a privilege to play in this team.”