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Andy Robertson is planning to toast Scotland's World Cup qualification by sharing a bottle of red wine with Liverpool great Sir Kenny Dalglish.
Liverpool star Robertson will captain his country at next summer's tournament after Tuesday's dramatic 4-2 victory over Denmark secured top spot in qualifying Group C.
It looked as though Scotland's qualifying campaign was going to end in glorious failure as the game headed into stoppage time with the scores level at 2-2, but late strikes from Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean secured a 4-2 win.
Scotland's last appearance at a World Cup came in 1998, but there was a time when the Tartan Army was a regular on the biggest stage of all.
Liverpool legend Dalglish featured at the 1974, 1978 and 1982 World Cups during a run which saw Scotland qualify for six out of seven World Cups between 1974 and 1998.
Robertson was interviewed by Dalglish's daughter, Kelly Cates, in the aftermath of Scotland's win over Denmark, and the Liverpool left-back said: “I can’t wait to go back down to Liverpool and share a red wine with your da. He always spoke about World Cups.”
It was an emotional night for many associated with Scottish soccer, but there can't have been many Scots who were more emotional than Robertson considering the loss he suffered earlier this year.
Diogo Jota's death in July devastated the entire soccer community, but Robertson became particularly close friends with the late Liverpool forward during their five years together at Anfield.
Robertson revealed in a post-game interview that he had been struggling to contain his emotions in the build-up to Scotland's game against Denmark, having shared plenty of conversations with Jota in recent years about the prospect of playing at a World Cup.
“I’ve hidden it well, but today I’ve been in bits,” said Robertson. “I know the age I’m at, this could be my last chance to go to the World Cup.
“I couldn’t get my mate Diogo Jota out of my head today. We spoke so much about going to the World Cup. I know he’ll be smiling over me today. I’m so glad it’s ended up this way.
“This group of boys, this group of staff – it’s the best group I’ve been involved in.”
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