Scott Brown and Joe Hart shared a brilliant moment on BBC Sportscene after Scotland’s hard-fought 1-0 win over Haiti, with the former Celtic captain joking that the ex-England goalkeeper “wishes he was Scottish”.
It came after Scotland secured three valuable points thanks to John McGinn’s first-half goal. It was not always pretty, and it was certainly not comfortable, but Scotland got the job done.
For anyone who has followed the national team long enough, that was hardly a surprise.
The post-match scenes told their own story. Scotland’s players and supporters celebrated wildly after grinding out the victory, even if the performance made life far more difficult than it needed to be.
Watching on in the BBC studio were two men Celtic supporters know extremely well.
Brown remains one of the great modern Celtic captains, a serial winner who led the club through some of its most successful years. Hart, meanwhile, spent three hugely popular seasons at Celtic Park and left with the respect and affection of the support firmly intact.
That made the studio exchange all the better.
Speaking on BBC Sportscene after the win, host Kelly Cates noted: “I am just watching Joe Hart’s face as he is watching these celebrations, after Scotland have beaten Haiti, one of the lowest ranked teams in the competition by a goal to nil, and made it really difficult for themselves in this game. Just explain why this is such a big win for Scotland?”
Brown responded: “Joe, we never do anything easily…”
Hart then cut in: “The images are, I am not hating, I am enjoying it. I wish I was in that stadium now.”
Brown did not miss the chance.
“You wish you were Scottish really, don’t you? You are about 70 per cent there,” he joked.
Hart laughed as he replied: “You have gone way too far there Scott, way too far.”
It was a cracking wee exchange between two former Celtic players, made even better by the obvious affection between the pair.
Hart, of course, is a former England No.1 and was capped 75 times by his country. Brown is a former Scotland captain and one of the most recognisable figures in the Scottish game.
But the joke landed because Hart’s connection to Scotland, and particularly to Celtic, is genuine.
The former Manchester City goalkeeper fully bought into the club during his time in Glasgow. He understood the size of Celtic, embraced the pressure, and left Paradise as a player supporters still speak about warmly.
Brown was clearly playing on that affection when he suggested Hart was “70 per cent” of the way there.
