Billy Gilmour’s smile said it all in the wake of Scotland’s 2-1 win over South Korea, which confirmed a place in the Toulon tournament semi-finals for the second year in succession.
The 16-year-old Chelsea playmaker was already on top of the world after a first call-up to the Under-21 squad, then a first appearance in the defeat of France.
He ticked off another two landmarks with a beautiful curled opening goal against South Korea and in doing so became the youngest player to do so for Scotland at Under-21 level.
The former Rangers prospect also becomes the first Scottish FA JD Performance School graduate to hit the target for his country at that age-group.
Second start for the 21s, my first goal and more importantly won and topped the group🏴 pic.twitter.com/RylgcLRfPK
— Billy Gilmour (@billygilmourrr) June 2, 2018
Billy, you’ve had a year of highs so where does that rank?
That goal is up there with any I’ve scored. Glenn Middleton told me before the game that he was going to try and cut the ball back for me and he did it right away in the game. It was bouncing high and I was going to hit it first time, but I took a touch, looked at the keeper and placed it into the net.
Scot Gemmill has shown a lot of faith in you given your inexperience at this level. Has that helped you hit the ground running like you have?
The manager has given me a lot of confidence and I was playing in a slightly different position because I was higher up, alongside the strikers. I just think to get seven points out of nine and go through on top of the group is brilliant.
It was a flying start, with two goals inside the first eight minutes. South Korea obviously made you work for it in the end.
We got off to a great start with the two goals but we really had to dig in at the end because they were playing 3-1-6 to try and get the equaliser. It was tough but we did it. It was tough in the heat but now we can’t wait for the next game against England. We’re still unbeaten. The first game against Togo might not have been great but, credit to the boys, because we’ve reacted brilliantly since then.
Scotland Squad
Ross Doohan (Celtic)
Robby McCrorie (Rangers)
Daniel Harvie (Aberdeen)
Jason Kerr (St Johnstone)
Chris Hamilton (Heart of Midlothian)
Ryan Porteous (Hibernian)
Anthony Ralston (Celtic)
Greg Taylor (Kilmarnock)
Iain Wilson (Kilmarnock)
Liam Burt (Rangers)
Allan Campbell (Motherwell)
Billy Gilmour (Chelsea)
Fraser Hornby (Everton)
Glenn Middleton (Rangers)
Harvey St Clair (Chelsea)
Elliot Watt (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Oliver Burke (West Bromwich Albion)
Michael Johnston (Celtic)
Craig Wighton (Dundee)
Scott Wright (Aberdeen)
Full Draw
Group A: China, England, Mexico, Qatar
Group B: France, Scotland, South Korea, Togo
Group C: Canada, Japan, Portugal, Turkey
Fixtures
Scotland 1, Togo 1, Stade de Lattre, Aubagne
Scotland 1, France 0, Stade D’Honneur, Salon
Scotland 2, South Korea 1, Stade Parsemain, Fos-Sur-Mer