When the realisation dawned on Kasper Schmeichel in the dying seconds at Hampden that he wasn’t going to get back to stop Kenny McLean’s audacious lob from the halfway line, he probably couldn’t think of anywhere on earth he would have less wanted to be.
Except, perhaps, returning to training with Celtic just days later. With the pain still raw from Scotland’s incredible World Cup qualification victory over Denmark, it would be understandable if the last thing he wanted to see was an array of grinning Scottish faces, and particularly the man who had curled home his own stunning stoppage time effort past him to start the party at the national stadium.
Kieran Tierney though isn’t just a classy operator on the pitch. And even in the aftermath of that unforgettable moment he produced for his country, and in the midst of the emotion it had sparked within him, he spared a thought for his crestfallen club colleague, admitting that it was just as easy to feel sympathy for Schmeichel as it was to feel joy for himself and his nation.
“Of course it is,” Tierney said.
“If it’s the other way about it’s absolutely heartbreaking for us. And they are a great team, a really good team. A strong team.
“I think the point over there was so crucial. I wasn’t involved in that game, but the point was so crucial because of how well they play and the results they’ve had. But it’s brilliant for us.
“We wanted this so much as well and it was hard for a nation to want to get to the World Cup more than us. We wanted it so much for everyone.
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“You know how good a goalkeeper he is, so it’s not easy to beat him from outside the box.
“It was a crazy game. It was going to be the Scotland way, and we did it in the end.”
Tierney, like any Scot, ran the full gamut of emotions on Tuesday night, but it was also almost a microcosm of how life has been for the full back over recent years.
A player who undoubtedly possesses the talent to operate at the very top level, his career has been stymied by a series of injuries, and it was clear just how much this reward at the end of those struggles meant to him.
“The last few years have been hard, really hard,” he said.
“Some really low points, just as in life everyone goes through. So, I’m no different from anyone.
“But I just keep working hard, keep fighting and try to give my best, and days like this make the low times worth it all.”
From the lowest of lows, then, to the highest of highs. Tierney’s thunder may have been stolen a bit by McLean’s long-range lob just minutes later, but there can be no diminishing the importance of his touch of brilliance, when he somehow kept his composure as a moment of such potential gravity fell his way.
“It’s right up there,” he said.
“It’s not sunk in yet but as a goal, it’s probably the most important one I’ve ever scored. I don’t know if I’ll ever score one as important.
“I said to (Anthony) Ralston in the morning ‘What if one of us comes on tonight and scores?’
“I did it, and just for the country, the fans, the staff and all the players it’s such an amazing feeling. I don’t think it’s sunk in yet and I don’t know how long it will be before it does.
“Usually, I just leather the ball, and that doesn’t always work. So, I said to myself to just try and place it and it fell nice for my left foot. I just tried to hit the corner and luckily, it’s went in.
“I knew we’d get one more chance, and I heard the manager say there would be one more chance, one more chance. We just had to keep believing.
“It was never going to be the easy way, it never is. For something as big as this we were going to have to dig deep and fight to the last minute, and the boys did that.
“It says we’re together and I think that’s one of the most important things with this team. The team spirit’s high. Whether you’re on the bench or you’re starting, everybody wants the best for each other. And I think that’s one of the most important things we’ve got.
“We’ve been together a few years now and we’ve achieved some great things.
“But I think this is maybe the best one.”
Tierney credits manager Steve Clarke for cultivating that culture within the Scotland squad, and he revealed that assistant manager Steven Naismith had shown some prescience that it may just be his night when he came on in the unfamiliar right-back role.
“[The manager] just said ‘You know what you’re doing, go and be solid,’” he said.
“Naisy actually said to me ‘Go and take us to the World Cup.’ So, we’ve managed to do that.
“He’s buzzing. Obviously, I scored last week on the left and he told me this week - I’ve trained at right-back a couple of times - ‘You never know, cut in on your left foot in this side and score.’
“I’m very grateful to the gaffer here. He’s always stuck with me and given me confidence
“I’m just happy to repay everyone’s faith in me and for all the patience people have shown in me, the support. I’m very grateful and I’m buzzing.”
