BBC Sportsound pundit Tam McManus heaped praise on James Forrest after the Celtic star engineered a 3-2 win for Scotland against Israel with his first hat-trick for his country.
He said that Forrest had put his country on his shoulders and carried them on Tuesday night, with the first hat-trick from a Celtic player for Scotland since 1906.
He added that Forrest was “magnificent”, that his first touch for each goal was “first class” and that he provided a lesson for any young player.
He finished off his praise by calling Forrest “clinical”.
https://twitter.com/The_Tman10/status/1064979902057848834
https://twitter.com/The_Tman10/status/1064988748075728896
COMMENTARY
It was only a few days ago that we were talking about his first goal for his country, after he scored a brace for Scotland against Albania on Saturday. Forrest went one better on Tuesday night and all three goals were needed as Scotland had to suffer a nervous final ten minutes. But Forrest’s hat-trick was enough and the win gives Scotland not only promotion from their Nations League group, but also an invaluable play-off spot for the Euro 2020 tournament. That’s the biggest prize for Scotland and it puts Alex McLeish in touching distance – just two games away – from qualifying for a major tournament. It wasn’t easy and Scotland never like to do things the easy way. At 3-1 up they were cruising and at 3-2 up they had to rely on Rangers keeper Allan McGregor to keep them in the lead with a fantastic reflex save from a neat Israel volley. But, as McManus said, this was Forrest’s night. He’ll keep the ball and he’ll remember the songs in his ears for the rest of his life.