A Norwegian hiker who needed help while travelling in the Highlands was delighted to be met by Scottish rescue workers – but was less happy when they told him his team had lost to Scotland in the Euro football qualifiers.
The unnamed Nordic rambler had been undertaking a days-long walk across the Isle of Skye when he found himself stuck near the abandoned clearance village of Suisnish early on Sunday morning. Rescue workers from the Skye and Kintail mountain rescue teams were deployed to help him back to civilisation.
Aid workers say that the hiker was "in pretty good spirits" when they found him. However, he was rather less delighted to find out that his national side had been beaten 2-1 in a last-minute shocker against Scotland on Saturday night.
In a post on its Facebook page, the Skye Mountain Rescue Team said: "Yesterday [Sunday] morning, with considerable help from Kintail Mountain Rescue, we went to the aid of a Norwegian male at Suisnish, Torrin, who was unable to continue with a multi-day hike.
"He was in pretty good spirits when we found him, but we soon sorted that out when we told him the footie score! Many thanks to Kintail Mountain Rescue, the Stoddart family at Kilbride, and of course Lyndon Dykes and Kenny McLean and their teammates."
Scotland faced off against Norway in the Euro 2024 qualifiers on Saturday, and had looked set to lose after Erlin Haarland scored from a penalty in the 61st minute. But a miraculous comeback saw Lyndon Dykes and Kenny McLean net two last-gasp winners in the 87th and 89th minutes.
The game sees Scotland five points clear in Group A of the qualifiers, ahead of Georgia and Spain. It continues an impressive run of wins after beating Cyprus and Norway 3-0 and 2-0 apiece.
The Skye team was also involved in two other incidents at Glenbrittle elsewhere on the western isle last week. An injured climber who broke his leg was rescued by a Coastguard helicopter on Wednesday while workers also endeavoured to reach a pair of German climbers who had gotten stuck on a ridge while navigating using Google.
The team added: "We then sent a small party up to our young Germans who had got completely out of their depth trying to cross the Ridge via Bealach na Glaic Mòire to camp at Coruisk. They learnt that, in Skye, a dotted line marked on Google Maps does not mean there's an actual path!"
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