BEN DOAK didn’t look at the name on the back of Josko Gvardiol’s shirt and worry he was facing one of the world’s costliest defenders.
He just stared at his own name on the back of that Dark Blue No 18 jersey and knew he was ready to light up Hampden.
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It’s an arrogance. But it’s a good arrogance.
It’s the type of arrogance you need if you’re going to succeed on the biggest stage.
And Doak’s display in the win over Croatia reminded me of one of my old Scotland team-mates — James McFadden.
Like Doak, he was just a teenager when he was first handed a Scotland shirt.
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Like Doak, he knew straight away he had the ability to make his mark against the best players on the planet.
For Doak scorching away from £76million Manchester City superstar Gvardiol this weekend, think Faddy skipping and dancing around Dutch defenders at Hampden a generation ago.
How the Tartan Army grew to love their talisman — Berti Vogts’ ‘Cheeky Boy’.
And how the Scotland fans adored every move from Doak in the Nations League victory at Hampden. By ‘every move’, I don’t just mean his attacking wing play or role in John McGinn’s late winner.
I mean his 40 or 50-yard backtracking runs when Gvardiol tried to take him the other way.
Doak isn’t scared of work. He’s not the type of winger who’ll lose the ball and wait on his team-mates to get it back for him.
I like his work ethic. It would have been easy for him to sit at Anfield and try to impress new Liverpool manager Arne Slot.
Instead, he knew the best thing for his development was to get out and play regular games.
He’s now eating it up in the English Championship at Middlesbrough, coming on leaps and bounds.
Slot will have had him watched and have been as impressed as the rest of us with his display.
And full credit to Steve Clarke for having the faith in Doak and throwing him in again.
It wouldn’t have been an easy decision to keep the top scorer in the squad — McGinn — on the bench.
The Aston Villa captain has often come off that right side at club level under Unai Emery.
After missing last month’s double header, it would have been simple for Clarke to recall McGinn at the expense of Doak.
But he stuck with the kid, who only turned 19 last Monday, and got a real reward.
Only Paul McStay and Willie Johnston have landed more caps as a teenager than Doak.
On a weekend when McGinn became our fifth-top scorer of all time and captain Andy Robertson is set to become the third-most-capped player, you wonder what the future holds for Doak.
As I’ve said before in this column, it’s important we don’t pin all our hopes on him.
We need to leave him alone to develop at his own pace.
But just like Faddy, he brings real qualities and a youthfulness which can drag the older players along with him.
Clarke has taken the team to two Euros with a certain style of play.
He’s had good midfielders like McGinn, Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour who are comfortable in that style. It’s worked well for Scotland — but now we have someone else who brings something different.
Someone who excels in one-on-one situations, someone happy to take people on, someone just as happy going on the inside or outside.
He can be a huge player for Scotland going forward.
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Like Faddy, he knows he’s not just in the squad to make up the numbers.
He’s there is make a difference. And he’s helped raise a few eyebrows with that win over a very good Croatia side.
If Scotland can now back it up with a win in Poland on Monday night — and maybe even runners-up spot in the group — it would be fantastic.
It’s going to be difficult and for it to happen we need so much to fall in our favour.
But second place would guarantee an extended stay in League A, among the best teams in Europe.
It would also help us in next month’s draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
After the draw with Portugal and win over Croatia, not many teams will fancy getting Scotland in that draw.
By that stage, Robertson — who will match Darren Fletcher’s 80-cap total in Warsaw — might be eyeing Kenny Dalglish’s 102-cap record.
McGinn, who matched Ally McCoist’s 19 goals with the late winner on Friday, could be gazing towards Lawrie Reilly on 22 or Hughie Gallacher on 25.
Or even King Kenny and Denis Law on 30.
By that stage, McTominay and Gilmour might be edging towards a Serie A title with Napoli.
And, of course, Doak will hope to have cemented his place in the Scotland team, pushed Boro towards the Premier League and, ultimately, convinced Slot he should be alongside Robertson at Anfield next term.
All of a sudden, the gloom that hung over Clarke’s side for so long has lifted.
A victory in Warsaw and that miserable run will be completely forgotten about.
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The little fella in the No 18 shirt has certainly played his part in lifting that gloom.
My good pal Faddy will just need to get used to the fact there’s a new Tartan Army favourite in town.
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