GOING by his son's first impressions, Alex Ritchie must have painted a fairly bleak picture of the weather growing up in Edinburgh.
Goodness knows what Matt Ritchie thought as he journeyed north from the sweltering humidity of Bournemouth - relatively speaking - on his first trip to Scotland but the experience surpassed his expectations. "It's definitely warmer than I thought it would be!" he revealed in bubbly tones, sounding a touch surprised that the landscape in Glasgow in late March wasn't more akin to the movie Frozen.
The weather wasn't the only thing to have pleased him. This, after all, was no ordinary maiden trip to his ancestral home. Instead, he had been summoned to represent the national football team in a friendly against Northern Ireland, having convinced manager Gordon Strachan that he was suitably Scottish to merit a call-up.
It would only be natural if someone born and raised in England, and who only received a tap on the shoulder from Scotland at the ripe old age of 25, should feel somewhat conflicted about their allegiances but Ritchie dodged and weaved around the matter with admirable dexterity.
"People are entitled to have their views but my dad is Scottish and I'm half-Scottish," he said. "Yes, I was born in England but I'm half-Scottish. It's been a proud occasion for me and my dad and I'm sure he'll have a smile on his face. All my family were here - my mum, dad and missus, plus my aunts and uncles from Scotland and some friends, too. It was definitely a proud moment for everyone involved. I've had no contact from the Bournemouth lads yet - they are all in Dubai! But I'd much rather be here and I hope it's the first of many trips to Scotland."
Ritchie, all 5ft8 of him in his stocking soles, grew in stature the longer his debut wore on. Relatively inconspicuous in the first half - with Ikechi Anya making far more of an impression on the other wing - he came into his own after the turn-around. Suitably emboldened to come in off his flank to fire in a pair of left-footed shots on goal, he would eventually bag a crucial assist, sticking a corner on Christophe Berra's head for the only goal of the game.
"I was nervous first half and you could tell that," he admitted. "I wasn't my usual self on the ball but in the second half I came onto my game. I'm hard on myself and I put pressure on myself so to set the goal up gives me a little boost in confidence. We missed chances first half too, but second half we were patient individually and as a team and we managed to get the goal."
Much has been made of how the Scotland squad has grown closer and bonded on Strachan's watch which may have made it hard for a new face to integrate. Ritchie insisted that hadn't been the case.
"It's a little bit like the first day at school as you don't know what to expect even though I've been around football for many years," he added."It can be daunting but everyone has made me feel welcome and settle into the squad and feel part of it. Darren Fletcher sat next to me in the dressing room and gave me calming words to tell me to relax and just to express myself as I do at Bournemouth. That was brilliant for me."
In front of a half-empty Hampden, Ritchie demonstrated he had taken his new commitment seriously. "It was brilliant [playing at Hampden] from the time of the national anthem even though it wasn't full. Everything was great. I did sing the national anthem - word for word! My dad has been singing it to me for many years so I had the gist of them anyway."
The next task for Ritchie is to double his cap tally. Gibraltar are at Hampden on Sunday for a Euro 2016 qualifier and the winger wants to be involved.
"That's down to the manager - I'm available of course. The manager will have his plans and if he chooses me then great. If not then I'm hopeful this cap will still be the first of many."
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