John McGinn admits he "loved every minute" of his Scotland debut after shining in a 1-0 friendly win over Denmark.
The 21-year-old seized his chance with an assured display alongside Scott Brown in central midfield, using the ball well and pressing the Danes effectively as Scotland triumphed through Matt Ritchie's early goal.
The Hibernian player said: "It was just an amazing feeling to get my nod for my first start. I loved every minute of it. Playing against top players like Christian Eriksen was something that, if you asked me at the start of the season if I was going to do that, I would have laughed at you.
"Ever since you kick a ball, you dream about playing for your country. When I was named in the squad, I was just so keen and excited to get my first cap. And for it to finally happen and get a positive result with it, it couldn't go much better."
McGinn was even named the sponsors' man of the match, although Craig Gordon must have pushed him close.
"I felt as if it could have gone to Craig in goals, he was terrific, but I'm not going to complain," the former St Mirren player said. "I'm delighted I got it.
"I was nervous initially as expected but the older boys helped me settle in and, as soon as the whistle went, I was relaxed and just pleased to make an impression.
"I'm playing with top players and it's easy playing alongside Scott, on his 50th cap. He was a massive help. He was talking the whole game and Gordon (Greer) and Grant (Hanley) were the same. They made the transition very easy."
McGinn was watched by several family members, including brother Paul, the Dundee full-back, and grandfather Jack, the former Scottish Football Association president and Celtic chairman. Along with an enthusiastic fan who greeted him as he went down the tunnel.
"That was my mum's Auntie Mary," the 21-year-old said. "She used to watch me when I was a kid. She's mental. She'll be up the stairs on the pints just now.
"It was great to have so many people there, especially my granddad. He missed the (League) cup final because he was ill but it was great to see him there and I'm sure he will be proud."
Also making an impressive debut was Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney, who was among the best players on the pitch in the first half.
The 18-year-old was surprised but grateful to be handed the chance by Gordon Strachan.
He added: "It was a great experience for me, at Hampden as well in front of the Scottish crowd. To play for your national team at any age is a great achievement.
"The last few months have been crazy, playing big nights at Celtic Park and that's a great achievement there."
Strachan, who also handed a late debut to Oliver Burke, had some words of encouragement beforehand.
Tierney revealed: "He said to the debutants before the game, 'You are here for a reason, do what you have been doing.' So I just had to do what I have been doing at Celtic."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here