YOU might imagine that going from playing in front of 60,000 fevered Mexican supporters in the Azteca for your country to being edged out on penalties by Stranraer at Stair Park would be quite the comedown.
For Chris Cadden though, the feel-good factor from his summer trip away with Scotland has yet to subside.
The 21-year-old is still on a high after winning his maiden caps for his country against Peru and Mexico, describing the experience as the highlight of a career that has already seen him play in two cup finals at club level.
‘Mental’ was the simple way he welcomed his call-up from Alex McLeish on his Twitter page, and the reality more than lived up to his expectations. He admits it was an emotional moment when he spoke to his family after his international bow as a late substitute against Peru, even if he wasn’t exactly in the thick of the action.
“I loved every minute of being away with Scotland,” Cadden said. “I tried to cherish it and take in every experience and everything that happened.
“It was the best and proudest moment of my career, pulling on the Scotland jersey.
“After the Peru game I was sitting in the changing room. I hadn’t touched the ball - I never gave it away like, but I never got a touch – but I remember sitting there and getting emotional.
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“That’s what I was always brought up on, that Scotland was the pinnacle of your career, and managing to do that was incredible. It was a dream come true really.
“I phoned my mum and dad and that was brilliant. They were ecstatic when I got the call-up, then they both stayed up with my brother [Nicky] to watch.
“I phoned them straight after it and they were all delighted. It was a bit emotional, but it was brilliant.
“I loved it and now I want to strive to get more. All the work that has gone into it, it was all worth it in the end.”
The Scotland jerseys will be framed for posterity, but Cadden hopes he did enough while away to ensure they won’t be the last to go up on the wall.
“That’s not up to me to decide,” he said. “I tried my best and every day in training I worked hard and tried to make an impact.
“It’s up to the gaffer, Faddy [James McFadden], Peter Grant or whoever to decide, but I tried my best, and hopefully I did make an impact.“I was a bit nervous in the first training session, but you were there for a reason, and I just tried to do whatever I could and try my best every day.
“That’s all I could do. I tried not to get intimidated, and just went out and did what I do.
“Hopefully it went well.”
Meanwhile, Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson is urging his players to heed the lessons from their chastening result against League One Stranraer when Queen of the South come calling at Fir Park this evening.
“It was a bit of a wake-up call,” Robinson said. “Pre-season has changed now because you don’t get the same amount of games to be ready to go so these are part of your build-up but you have to win them so it’s a Catch-22.
“I’m still trying to get Peter Hartley, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, Liam Donnelly, Danny Johnson and Conor Sammon fit and you have to play them in these games so it’s a fine balancing act.
“But our decision making defensively against Stranraer was extremely rusty which is very unlike us. We still created lots of chances going forward and should have scored more and that’s the positive
“We will get a lot better and we’ve spoken to the boys and they know that. Peter Hartley got 90 minutes for the first time in seven months, Aaron for the first time in eight months and Conor got more game time so that’s the positives.
“A big lesson for us on Saturday is that if you don’t do the simple things well then you get punished - at any level.
“We didn’t lose the game - we should have done - and that’s a positive. If you watch top teams like Manchester City and Celtic they don’t change what they’re doing, and they do the simple things really well.”
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