Hibs international round-up: First cap for Paul McGinn as Martin Boyle's Australia make history

Paul McGinn mae his debut for Scotland in the 1-0 win against Austria in Vienna

Easter Road vice-captain Paul McGinn won his first cap for Scotland, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute for Stephen O’Donnell and sharing an international pitch with his brother John.

The 30-year-old was a last-minute call-up to the squad after Ryan Fraser, Kenny McLean, and Nathan Patterson had pulled out the day before the match against Austria in Vienna and had been previously called up in October 2020 but failed to make an appearance off the bench.

It is the middle McGinn brother’s first ever international involvement at any level and he did his future prospects no harm by helping Steve Clarke’s side to a vital 1-0 win against Franco Foda’s side in the Austrian capital. Scotland now sit second in World Cup qualifying group F with three wins, two draws, and one defeat from their six games so far.

McGinn is the sixth Hibs player since May 2018 to have been capped by Scotland while at the club after Paul Hanlon, Dylan McGeouch, John McGinn, Kevin Nisbet, and Lewis Stevenson. The defender’s cap takes the number of full internationalists at the club to nine.

Club colleague Kevin Nisbet won his eighth cap as he replaced Che Adams for the final few minutes.

Socceroos make history

Martin Boyle’s Australia made history with a hard-fought victory over Vietnam in Hanoi at the Mỹ Đình National Stadium as the Socceroos recorded their tenth successive World Cup qualifying win. Graham Arnold’s side are the first Asian Football Confederation member to win ten straight qualifiers in one campaign and just the fourth country ever to do so.

However, Australia had to beat Vietnam without Boyle on the pitch. The Hibs winger wasn’t risked after suffering an injury in last week’s 3-0 win against China but Rhyan Grant’s strike just before half-time – his first for his country – was enough to secure victory.

Under-21 trio feature

Hibs had three players on Under-21 duty with Scotland as Scot Gemmill’s side opened their Euro 21 qualifying campaign with a match against Turkey in Bursa.

Former Hibs loanee Glenn Middleton opened the scoring for the visitors after just nine minutes as he converted Adam Montgomery’s cross, but Enis Destan squared the game with around a quarter of an hour remaining as the teams shared the points.

Josh Doig started at left-back and played the full 90 minute while James Scott partnered Middleton in attack. Winger Daniel Mackay replaced Montgomery on 72 minutes with Scott eventually making way for Max Anderson just after Turkey’s equaliser.

Their next games are away to Denmark on October 8 and a home double-header against Kazakhstan and Belgium on November 12 and 16, with venues to be confirmed for all.

Gogic’s Cyprus defeated

Cyprus suffered a 2-0 defeat against Slovakia in Bratislava as an Ivan Schranz goal and a wonder-strike from Martin Koscelnik secured victory for Štefan Tarkovič’s side. Easter Road midfielder Alex Gogic remained an unused substitute for the third consecutive game while Cyprus are propping up Group H with just four points from their six games so far.

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