Scotland’s Former Manager: Mourinho “Reminded” Me to Call Up McTominay; We Owe Him Thanks

Scotland’s former manager Alex McLeish revealed that José Mourinho “reminded” him to call up Scott McTominay to the Scotland national team as soon as possible.

In Wednesday’s final World Cup qualifier, Scotland defeated Denmark 4-2 at home to successfully qualify for next year’s World Cup. McTominay scored a brilliant overhead kick in the 3rd minute, establishing himself as the core and leader of the Scotland team. McLeish said: “Looking back now, I think all of us Scots should express some gratitude to Mourinho.”

Mourinho managed Manchester United from 2016 to 2018, during which he gave frequent playing time to youth academy graduate McTominay. He voiced dissatisfaction with England manager Gareth Southgate’s delay in calling up McTominay. With McTominay’s father being Scottish, he was eligible to play for Scotland. In February 2018, McLeish—then Scotland’s manager—visited Manchester United to approach McTominay, who subsequently chose to represent Scotland.

McLeish added: “Mourinho said in an interview that England might miss out on McTominay, and I should contact him as soon as possible! So I decided to go to Manchester United’s training ground to meet with Mourinho and McTominay in person. But there was a storm at the time, and I almost couldn’t make it! I didn’t arrive in Yorkshire until 3 a.m., and I really wondered if I should go back—the weather was terrible. I finally reached the hotel in Manchester, but I was so late that the hotel almost thought I wasn’t coming! I got there at 4 a.m., worried I wouldn’t have a room, but luckily, the hotel found one for me in the end.”

McLeish continued: “The next morning, I called Mourinho and said, ‘Come at 12 noon, let’s have lunch and talk about McTominay—we’ll sort out his room.’ He was very accommodating. I felt McTominay was interested in joining Scotland, but I thought I’d have to do a lot of convincing. However, when he arrived, he knew clearly he wanted to play for Scotland. I think he appreciated me going there to see him; it was probably my most valuable trip.”

McLeish also talked about McTominay’s wonderful overhead kick in this round of qualifiers: “To pull off such an overhead kick, you need special athleticism and judgment of the ball’s position and timing. Denmark defender Andreas Christensen must have been thinking, how can McTominay jump so high in the air?”

Finally, McLeish said: “McTominay is already a top player. He’s now an icon at Napoli and a key player for Scotland—he deserves it all. He’s an excellent professional with a great work ethic and personality. He always scores goals; people forget he started as a striker in Manchester United’s youth academy, but his finishing is still amazing. He can shoot from distance, time his runs perfectly, and score spectacular goals. He’s become a major driving force for Scotland, and seeing Scotland return to the World Cup is a special moment.”