David Wotherspoon met up with his Canadian team-mates last week.
Alphonso Davies of Bayern Munich, Jonathan David of Lille and Cyle Larin of Besiktas were among the group.
Davies had just won the German Bundesliga, David victorious in France’s Ligue 1 and Larin crowned champion of the Turkish Super Lig.
Fantastic achievements, of course. Yet Wotherspoon was also attracting plenty of congratulatory attention.
Word had quickly spread around the Canada camp about the proud St Johnstone midfielder’s unprecedented campaign back in Scotland.
His cup double-winning heroics with his local club had not gone unnoticed by some of the globe’s greatest forces.
“I still don’t think it has fully sunk in what we have achieved,” said Wotherspoon, speaking this week while on international duty.
“The more you look back on it, the more you realise how great the success was and how much it will continue to be in the future.
“I came into the Canada camp and everyone congratulated me on what Saints had achieved.
“They all recognised it and were delighted.
“It has been great to see everyone getting the same sort of success around the Canada team, winning trophies around the world.
“It’s refreshing to come away from Scotland and realise that people are taking notice of St Johnstone.”
There will soon be more people sitting up and taking notice of St Johnstone when European football kicks off later in the summer.
A Europa League third qualifying round fixture at the beginning of August awaits for a squad determined to build on their recent success.
Some of Saints’ potential opponents – the likes of Rapid Vienna, PSV Eindhoven and Galatasaray – add to the excitement factor.
“I’ve seen a couple of the teams we can get,” Wotherspoon said. “It’s incredible to be in amongst these kinds of teams.
“It’s obviously going to be a very hard tie whoever it is. These are teams that are constantly playing in the Champions League.
“I never thought that would happen but, after such a successful season, we need to look to prove that we are a great team.
“We are looking forward to it and can’t wait to see who we get. We’ll be excited whoever we get and want success in Europe.”
Wotherspoon is no stranger to continental competition and played a key role in helping knock Norwegian giants Rosenborg out of the competition back in 2013.
The Perth crowd was electric that night and the 31-year-old would love them to be in attendance in August.
“It’s a good thing that the games will be a little later,” he told the PA.
“Previously it was difficult to get much game-time in before playing and we were also having to come back in for pre-season earlier.
“The boys will get that wee bit of extra rest and recovery after celebrating our season. We’ll look forward to the build-up.
“If we can get fans back for the European games, that would be tremendous. We’ve missed them being there and celebrating with us.
“The more fans we can get in the better. With all our achievements and how the last year has been, I’m sure everyone will be itching to get back in to watch the football. I feel the club brings the community and the city together as one.
“It feels like the whole city is wanting to come and watch us, not just football fans. I hope that happens.”
While his team-mates are currently enjoying some well-earned downtime, Wotherspoon’s focus on football is greater than ever.
He started and performed impressively as Canada defeated Aruba 7-0 in a World Cup qualifying game on Saturday and was back in action against Suriname – whose ranks include former Saint Nigel Hasselbaink – on Tuesday.
A 4-0 win moved the Canucks into a more advanced stage of qualifying, with a two-legged tie against Haiti next up.
Wotherspoon is not set to return to Scotland until the end of next week and that means time for rest and recovery will be severely limited ahead of Saints getting back to pre-season. But he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I want to be able to represent Canada and pull on the red shirt,” Wotherspoon said. “That means a lot to me. To play with all of these special players that are out here is a great thing to be part of right now and very exciting for the country.
“I was delighted to start against Aruba and help push forward in our mission to get to the World Cup. I know I’m part of the team and I am providing for them.
“Everything we work on, we’re in it together. We’re certainly in the zone right now and want to continue the run.
“I will be back Thursday of next week, all going well. I’ll be off for a week and a half for a bit of quiet time before everything
starts.
“I won’t have had much time off but my career doesn’t last that long. I’ll continue to work hard as long and as much as my body lets me.”
