John Swinney has hailed the “tremendous inspiration” provided by the Scotland men’s team after their Word Cup victory this weekend – adding that fans in the US for the match were “a credit to our country”.
He praised Steve Clarke’s side after the team secured a 1-0 victory against Haiti at the weekend, with the First Minister describing it as an “outstanding performance”.
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions in Holyrood, Mr Swinney began by “expressing the warmest congratulations of everyone in the Scottish Parliament, indeed the whole of our country, at the outstanding performance of Steve Clarke, Andy Robertson and the Scotland team”.
He added that both the Scotland team and Tartan Army “were an absolute credit to our country in the United States at the weekend”.
Mr Swinney, who was back in the Parliament after travelling to America for the match, said it had been a “particular pleasure” for him to see Scotland supporters “make such a positive impression in Boston and to capture the imagination and the interest of the city”.
The First Minister told MSPs that the success of the opening match – Scotland’s first World Cup victory since 1990 – “augers well for the remainder of the world cup campaign”.
SNP MSP Alex Kerr had asked the SNP leader how he would “build on our men’s team making history to get people taking up our national sport, particularly after we win the World Cup”.
Mr Swinney highlighted government initiatives, such as the World Cup Fund, which is providing £500,000 of funding to “support young boys and girls to follow their sporting dreams”, along with additional funding for Street Soccer Scotland.
The First Minister said: “We should all take stock after the weekend, be very, very grateful for the tremendous inspiration given by the Scotland national team and by the Tartan Army, who are a credit to our country.”
