Andy Considine has shown he can boogie – but Ryan Jack is not surprised with how he has waltzed into the Scotland squad.
Baccara’s 1970s disco classic has become the unofficial anthem of this Scotland squad, after a post-match video following the Serbia triumph, thanks to dressing-room DJ Kieran Tierney.
However, it gained traction in the Scottish football scene thanks to a video produced for Considine’s stag do in 2015, which featured him, his father, brother and friends in drag giving their rendition of the song.
When it was played after the game, Considine was in the thick of the dancing with his Scotland colleagues and the popularity of the video online has led to Baccara reaching out to the Aberdeen defender on social media.
This is the best video to ever exist pic.twitter.com/IEWe0rylpo
— lewis ferguson (@lewisferguson7) November 12, 2020
But to Jack, his former Dons team-mate, it shows the togetherness in the camp and how easily Considine has fitted in after the prolonged clamour for his inclusion.
Jack said: “You kind of forget how well Andy has done. He’s always been that Mr Consistent, even when I was at Aberdeen he never missed a game. He was an eight-out-of-ten every week and as a team-mate, you can trust him.
“For him to step in at short notice and do as well as he’s done, it’s not really a surprise as I’ve seen it first hand at club level. I’m delighted for him and he’s a part of the squad now. He’s been welcomed in with open arms.
“The I Can Boogie stuff has went crazy but it shows the team spirit and togetherness we have. After the game we put that song on and we knew that would get Andy up dancing – the big man was straight up there. It’s great to see and shows the team spirit the manager has built. We’ve built those relationships as a squad as well.”
After Scotland duty is parked for the winter, Considine and Jack will become rivals again as the Dons head to Ibrox on Sunday to face Rangers.
Jack added: “You’re team-mates and I know Andy very well, having been team-mates with him. I still keep in touch with him off the park. But as you say, when you come to league business and competing against each other, you go out on the park trying to win.
“I’m sure Andy will be putting the boot into me on Sunday trying to get three points and I’ll be the exact same. You want to win three points for your club. But you come away on international duty, it’s about being team-mates and trying to achieve things together for your country. Thankfully last week we managed to achieve something.”
The national side have one final piece of business to attend to tonight, as they face Israel in their final Uefa Nations League game in Netanya.
The 1-0 defeat to Slovakia in Trnava on Sunday means Scotland’s place at the top of the group will be sealed with a win tonight, which will inch Steve Clarke’s towards a play-off place for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“It’s huge. We said that about the other day – if we go and win the game or get a point, it was going to really help us,” added Jack. “We never managed to, which is typical. We’ll go and do it the hard way as we always do.
“It’s going to be a really tough game. You’ll have seen that from the results and the way the games have went when we’ve played Israel, there’s no easy games. We’re expecting one of the toughest games we’ve had as a group. I’m sure if we stick together we’ll get over the line.”
Jack, who left Aberdeen for Rangers in 2017, gives Clarke great credit for making him feel welcomed in the international scene.
He has started six of the last nine internationals, including the penalty shoot-out wins over Israel and Serbia which took Scotland to Euro 2020.
The 28-year-old added: “I think the international scene, if I’m being honest, I’ve not really had that before, where I felt right involved and a part of the plans.
“So that side of it really helped me and from that first conversation I thought this was the aim, I felt like there was the chance with the group we had that we could go and achieve something.”
“We said at the start we were trying to go on a journey – and qualifying for a major competition is just the start.”