Ally McCoist in Scotland delight as he hails best Hampden Park atmosphere in 15 years

Scott McTominay’s winning goal for Scotland against Israel on Saturday prompted Ally McCoist and Ian Crocker to hug each other in celebration.
Ally McCoist is still on cloud nine after Scotland's win over Israel. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)Ally McCoist is still on cloud nine after Scotland's win over Israel. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)
Ally McCoist is still on cloud nine after Scotland's win over Israel. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

The pair were the commentary team for Sky Sports’ coverage of the crucial World Cup qualifying match at Hampden Park.

McCoist’s celebrations and enthusiasm at the winning goal will become an iconic Scotland moment.

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Speaking on talkSPORT, the Rangers legend was still on cloud nine as he claimed it was the best atmosphere in Mount Florida for 15 years.

“Before everybody gets carried away, I know it was Israel. I KNOW it was. But it was brilliant, man.

"Very poor first-half, we lost a couple of poor goals. But in the second-half we were excellent, it was the best we've played in donkey’s years.

"We scored in the 93rd minute, McTominay. It was the best I'd heard the old stadium in about 15 years. It was brilliant, the place was rocking."

He added: "The place was in uproar, me and Crocks doing the commentary were hugging each other.

"It was the first time it's been a sell-out at Hampden for, I don't know, years and years?

"The place, honestly, I'm not kidding you, when the final whistle blew you could feel the stand moving beneath your feet. It was brilliant."

McCoist now believes the second half was the best Scotland have played in ten years.

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"Listen, we're getting a bit of stick saying 'it's only Israel',” he said.

"But they're missing the point, missing the point totally. We haven't been to a World Cup since 98 and this keeps our hopes of second place alive.

"It was massive, the key game is obviously the Faroe Islands because we just have to win that.

"I'm glossing over the fact we weren't great first-half but that's fish and chip paper, that's gone. Second-half, Gilmour was out of this world. So was Tierney, tremendous. Robertson, tremendous.

"I'm getting carried away but it was just the best I've seen us play in 10 years. I was going to say five but I've just doubled it, willy nilly!

"We're going over there and I just think we've got a different group of players now.

"It's not rocket science, we've got players at Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa – we've just got a good group of players now."

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