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John McGinn has dismantled Rodri's comments about 'rubbish' Scotland in brilliant interview

John McGinn has dismantled Rodri's comments about 'rubbish' Scotland in brilliant interview

Scotland midfielder John McGinn has snapped back at Spain midfielder Rodri after he criticised Scotland's style of play.

John McGinn has responded to Rodri's comments about Scotland's 'rubbish' style of play with a very fair assessment of the situation.

The Tartan Arms secured their first victory over Spain since 1984 on Tuesday after a brace from Scott McTominay sealed a somewhat surprising 2-0 win in their Euro 2024 qualifier at Hampden Park.

Scotland are now leading the way in Group A following two impressive performances that include a 3-0 win over Cyprus.

But rather than praise Steve Clarke's side for a defensively astute performance on the night, Spain captain Rodri criticised the Scots for their so-called 'time-wasting' tactics during a fiesty post-match interview.

Speaking to Viaplay after the full-time whistle, the Manchester City midfielder said: "It’s the way they play - for me it’s a bit rubbish. It’s always wasting time, they provoke you, they always fall. For me, this is not football.

“The referee has to take a part in this but he said nothing. It’s a bit frustrating because we want to win and it’s difficult because they waste time, waste time. It is what it is.

"They have their weapons, we have our weapons, and we will learn for next time.”

Rodri then decided to mention the grass at Hampden Park [as did his teammate David Garcia] before eventually admitting his side needed to "polish" some oversights.

Rodri's post-match interview didn't exactly not go down well with many, including Scotland and Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn, who laughed at the comments before picking them apart.

"Wasting time? Absolutely," he said. "If anyone expects us to go head-to-head with Spain in a Tiki-taka battle for 90 minutes and expects us to come away with three points, then there is absolutely no chance.

"I think everyone needs to get a bit of realism and realise that we need to find a way to beat Spain. We managed to do it. The grass is a bit long, the pitch was a bit sticky. But it's in Scotland, it's not in Spain. It's the benefits of being the home team.

"I thought we handled the game well, and maturely. Did we waste time a bit? Aye, absolutely because we were winning from an early point.

"Were we rolling about from challenges? Naw, we were the same as the Spain players. I don't really agree with that, but Spain are a top, top team and I'm sure they will be back."

McGinn's teammate Andy Robertson also made his feelings known about Scotland's style of play against Spain.

"Yeah look, I think they were going down a little bit easily, we were trying to say that," Robertson told Viaplay. "We were always going to try to be physical, we wanted to be in their faces, win our headers and challenges and I think we did that.

"I don’t think we crossed the line. They were, especially in the first half, rolling about a wee bit much but they use their experience and they got a couple of us booked which is fair enough to them."

Thoughts on Rodri's comments? Does McGinn have a point? Let us know.

Featured Image Credit: Football Daily/Viaplay

Topics: Andy Robertson, Scotland, Spain, Rodri