1 week Ago By [email protected] (Fraser Wilson)
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Ben Doak says he doesn’t see opposition faces or reputations when he walks onto the park - just a blank figure waiting to be taken on.
Well you can bet big Josko Gvardiol will be seeing the Scotland starlet’s coupon in his dreams tonight. Or nightmares. For the second time in little over a month the 19-year-old gave the Manchester City superstar a roasting on the right wing as Scotland kept their Nations League top tier survival hopes alive against Croatia .
Doak ’s 90-minute head-to-head with Gvardiol on the Hampden touchline was as entertaining as anything else on show as Scotland ended a 13-month wait for a competitive win against the 10-man Croats. Steve Clarke showed faith in the hitkid by handing him his third successive start and boy did he repay the boss with as gallus a showing as Hampden has seen in a long time. It culminated in the little wing wizard’s 86th minute dart to the touchline and cut back for John McGinn to slam home the only goal of the game.
Roughly an hour earlier the Liverpool kid - on-loan at Middlesbrough - left Gvardiol trying to unscrew himself from the Hampden turf with a trademark turn and nutmeg before setting up Scott McTominay for a crack at goal. To his credit Gvardiol gave a bit back. Having been given an introduction to Doak’s powers in last month’s 2-1 defeat in Zagreb, the Man City man wasted no time getting a hold of his tormentor in Glasgow last night as he bodied him over the touchline in the opening minutes.
But it was only lighting the fuse on a fiery battle in which Doak, once again, showed he fears absolutely nobody on the biggest stage of all. He said: “Gvardiol’s one of the best in the world, isn’t he? So it’s good to test yourself against players of that calibre. We both had our moments when we got the better of each other, but I’ve loved both games against him.
“When I went past him early in the first half I didn’t realise it had gone through his legs, I just flicked it and hoped it’d come out the other side, which it did. We were unfortunate not to score from that one, but it was another moment I enjoyed. “I don’t see faces on the park, I just see a kit and a blank face.
I don’t take notice of reputations. I just believe that if I’m good enough to be on the pitch then I should be up to whoever I’m against. “At the goal it looked like I shot, but I didn’t actually mean to – I just tried to smash it across the six-yard box and cause a bit of carnage.
As it went, that’s what happened. We got that wee bit of luck and it fell to John to put it away.” Gvardiol was finally spared when Clarke decided to replace Doak in the first minute of injury time, to run down the clock.
It also gave the Tartan Army an opportunity to hand the teenager a richly deserved standing ovation as he took the long walk round the Hampden track. Doak said: “I thought they just did that for every sub to be honest! I didn’t want to take the long way round, I wanted to waste a bit of time. But you do what the ref tells you.
“You don’t want any silly bookings. It’s nice to get a round of applause from everyone in the stadium. But it was great.
I really enjoyed the game out there, especially the second half. “The red card definitely helped us. It gave me the room to do what I do best, which is get at the full-back.
“I don’t really notice the crowd during the game, to be honest. Everything just seems to black out except what’s happening on the pitch. “Obviously I noticed it all at the goal, I enjoyed that.
It was good to see everyone in Hampden so happy, because we were due a win.” Doak now has two Hampden assists to his name from four caps. And while Clarke has a reputation of playing it safe when it comes to young talent, there’s little doubt even the head coach is on board the Boro kid’s bandwagon.
His surge onto the international stage has been made all the more remarkable by the fact he spent nine months on the sidelines last season with a serious knee injury. Now he’s back, Doak is desperate to make the most of every opportunity. And he truly feels like he belongs on the same international stage as the superstars he’s faced in the past month including Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo.
And, of course, Gvardiol. He said: “Of course. I enjoy playing for this team.
“It’s really tough playing some of the best teams in the world like Portugal last time. That’s when you really get your eyes opened to the quality and the level we need to be at. We just need to work hard to get up to that level.
“I try to do my best for the team and do what I do best. If I can help us win the game then I help us win the game. I’m in two teams with Scotland and Middlesbrough that are full of match winners, full of really good players with good quality.
“If the game comes down to one of my actions then great. If it’s someone else’s then that’s also great. As long as we win the game.
“I just love playing football. I had a tough period out with injury. So you can imagine how frustrating that was.
To be back playing is great.”.
