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After one of the greatest achievements of his glittering career, Andy Robertson reminded us all of what he and his teammates have been going through in recent months – and what they will continue to have to deal with for years to come.
"I know he was smiling down tonight, I know he'll have a smile on his face wherever he is, and hopefully he'll have a smile on his face in the summer when hopefully I get to represent my country during the World Cup," said the Scotland captain.
Robertson lost one of his good friends four-and-a-half months ago, when Diogo Jota tragically died alongside his brother in a car crash in Spain. Although Jota's death had a profound impact on the soccer community as a whole, few in the game would have been hit harder than Robertson when the news of the Liverpool forward's death emerged on July 3.
"He was the most British foreign player I’ve ever met," Robertson wrote on social media in the aftermath of the accident.
"We used to joke he was really Irish... I’d try to claim him as Scottish, obviously. I even called him Diogo MacJota.
"We’d watch the darts together, enjoy the horse racing. Going to Cheltenham this season was a highlight - one of the best we had."
Robertson was among the attendees at Jota's wedding on June 22 — 13 days later, Robertson was laying a wreath at Jota's funeral.
After Scotland's win over Denmark, which secured the Tartan Army's place at a first World Cup this century, Robertson revealed all about his emotions in the buildup to the game at Hampden Park.
"Today, when I woke up, I couldn't get him out of my head all day," Robertson said. "All I could think about was him."
Robertson's comments put the significance of soccer results into perspective, particularly when one considers the amount of criticism Liverpool has faced for its form in recent months.
The Reds may have lost seven of their last 10 games in all competitions, and they may currently find themselves eighth in the Premier League, but that really doesn't matter all too much in the grand scheme of things.
Liverpool hasn't become a mediocre team overnight — rather, it is a team that is dealing with a great tragedy: a group of players who have lost a friend.
Grief comes in waves, and Robertson was clearly hit by a big one on the day of the greatest achievement of his international career.
More waves will come, and they will hit different players, and that should be allowed to happen without the spotlight shining too brightly on every Liverpool result.
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