Mark Beck on his International debut
Striker Mark Beck was widely hailed as ‘the difference’ when he made his international debut against Sweden for the Scotland U19 side on Tuesday night.
The second half introduction of the imposing centre forward led to an equaliser and an assist as Ricky Sbragia’s young side overhauled a two-goal deficit to claim an impressive 3-2 win.
Fresh from his Wednesday morning training session - and an international squad photo-call - we managed to grab a few words to get some reaction to what had been a dream debut.
"The last few days have been a really enjoyable experience for me," Beck said.
"I never thought I'd be anywhere like here at the start of the season so it's been brilliant for me."
"I thought in the dressing room at half time that I might have been going on," he explained. "Ricky [Sbragia] had mentioned that I would feature at some point, but I was still very nervous when he told me. Thankfully I went on and played well.
"It couldn't have gone any better really. I wanted to see how I played at International level and I was delighted with my performance and my goal.
"With the goal, I was shouting at him to cut it back as soon as we got in the area. He did that and all I wanted from there was to get it on target. I managed that and it was an unbelievable feeling when I saw it hit the back of the net."
"There was a bit of a discussion about the third goal, but it was Barrie [McKay] who got the final touch," he admitted. "I headed it down from a corner and it beat the keeper, but unfortunately they had someone on the line. Barrie was on hand to tap it in and I have to be honest and say I don't think it crossed the line from my header."
On the game as a whole, he added: "Sweden are a decent side so it was never going to be easy coming into the game at two goals down.
"The good thing was that the lads stuck together and dug deep to get back into it. It was a good feeling for us to get the winner late on because we had worked hard to get there.
"For me, it was nice to just get on the pitch and play International football. Scoring a goal to add to it has been a real bonus. Hopefully I can keep myself in the frame and play a part in the games to come."
"Putting the shirt on was a big moment for me," he said. "My granddad was very proud. My mam and dad were there to watch as well; she's half Scottish and she's seen her son score a goal for Scotland, so I think she'll be pretty happy with that. As I say, I was really pleased to get on and show the manager what I can do."
"I did feel confident," he concluded. "International football isn't as physical as League One but the game is still played at a fast pace. I didn't get to keep the shirt, though, because it was just a friendly, so I was a bit disappointed about that. Hopefully I'll get another chance to get one in the games to come."