Lewis Morgan (Photo courtesy of the New York Red Bulls)
The Scottish national team had been the furthest thing from Lewis Morgan’s mind all winter.
Completing his recovery from a debilitating hip injury that limited his 2023 season to just five matches, the Scottish winger turned forward’s focus was recapturing the form from two years ago when he led the New York Red Bulls with 18 goals in all competitions. After all, the former Celtic and Sunderland man had not been called up to a Scotland camp since 2019 and had not appeared in a match since 2018.
In fact, when I spoke with him in February shortly before the start of a new Major League Soccer season and four months before the start of the 2024 European Championships — for which Scotland qualified for just the fourth time ever — I asked him about one day, potentially, representing his home nation once again. It was a question met with understandable pessimism considering national team manager Steve Clarke had not chosen players from MLS for his sides. It had also been six years since he wore the Scotland shirt, but his love and respect for the Tartan Army shone through entirely.
“Representing your country is the best thing in sports but I’m also a realistic person. For whatever reason, we’ve gotten a number of players in [MLS] who have done very well and can contribute to the Scottish national team but the reality is, the manager hasn’t called up players in this league. It’s no secret and it’s totally his prerogative, so I’m not sitting here saying that we should be getting called up. But I think Steve Clarke has done an amazing job. The levels he’s taken the national team to have been amazing. I love watching their games…
“I think the reality is we sort of know that it’s probably not going to happen and that’s fine. There’s more to football than that. That’s the two best moments of my career was playing for Scotland. I would love for nothing more to…
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