As the Scotland World Cup squad came to grips yesterday with the news that goalkeeper Andy Goram had quit international football, the national team manager, Craig Brown, made a spirited defence of the man who has walked away from his squad.

Despite repeated suggestions at a press conference that Goram should now be banned for evermore from any future selection for his country, Brown refused to do that. Instead he stressed on several occasions that the timing of Goram's decision had been made with the interests of the squad very much in the keeper's mind.

''Andy has said in his message to me that he did not want the thoughts of the players diverted, and that is why he has done this now. You know, things were so bad that eventually we had to place a block on his room phone because of the number of newspaper calls he was getting - not from anyone here - but from news people. It was a nightmare for him and for his room-mate Gordon Durie.

''I sensed there was something wrong and I asked Alex Miller to speak to Andy because he has always been close to him. He was fine in training because that was when he was able to get away from the other problems.

''He looked good but I suppose it was a kind of therapy for him. However, away from work he was not as bright as he usually is. Normally he is one of the group who is having a laugh and a joke, and he was not the same as normal.

''The pressure off the field had got to him, and he made a very brave decision which I respect him for doing.

''He could have sat back and taken his money with the squad, or he could have left us next week when we would not have been able to bring in a replacement.

''Andy Goram did not do that. He thought about our problems and took the decision with these in mind. He was very, very upset when he spoke to me.

''However, he felt his problems were going to impinge on our preparations and that's why he decided to go home.

''He handed me the letter and asked me to read it and then talk to him. There was a letter for me and a letter for a friend he trusts and respects, and these contained the reasons for his leaving the squad at this time.''

As for the future, Brown holds the view that if Goram wants to return to the squad, then he would allow that to happen. He explained his position forcibly and emphasised: ''Don't mistake kindness for softness because that is not the case here. I have sympathy for Andy Goram's situation.

''He has not done anything here which has gone against the rules. If that was the case then we would not want him back. But other players have said they don't want to play and I have always left the door open for them, and Andy is now in the same position as Duncan Ferguson and David Robertson.

''I have always maintained that if big Duncan called me to say that he did want to play, then he would be back in our plans. Similarly, if David Robertson said he was ready to accept my decision on team selection, then he would be back, too.

''I don't think anyone would argue with that policy. My job is to get the best team for Scotland out onto the field, and I shall continue to do that. If Andy Goram gets these off-field problems sorted out and decides that he is ready to play for Scotland again, then I will select him.

''Managers have to handle players who might have problems. Walter Smith has done it. Alex Ferguson did it with Eric Cantona at Manchester United - that is a part of your job.''

Naturally, Brown would not reveal whether Goram would have been first-choice for the World Cup finals but, as the dust settled over the former Rangers' player's shock departure, he did confirm that Aberdeen's Jim Leighton is the out-and-out No.1 now.

Neil Sullivan, from Wimbledon, and Celtic's Jonathan Gould, who flew into the United States yesterday afternoon to join the squad, are second and third.

Brown's assistant, Alex Miller the Aberdeen manager who brought Goram from near-obscurity with Oldham to Hibs when he was in charge at Easter Road added: ''He was not the same Andy, not the Andy I knew in the last few days.

All the pressure had got to him. I know how much he wanted to play in the World Cup and yet here he is turning his back on one of his great ambitions.''

On the more mundane side, Brown was able to report that Kevin Gallacher has been eating normally again after his stomach upset and is likely to play against the United States in Washington on Saturday.

However, Gordon Durie con-tinues to provide problems - though not long-term. If he misses the second game it will be because Scotland are not prepared to risk aggravating the injury he picked up against Colombia.