Relaxing in his hotel in uptown Charlotte on Tuesday evening, Ryan Christie watched the Lionel Messi show unfold. Agog, like the rest of us. An international footballer, yes, but in those moments of magic from the great man, just another mortal. "When you chill out a bit, you turn back into a spectator," said the Bournemouth and Scotland midfielder. "Watching Messi [scoring a hat-trick against Algeria] and stuff like that, it's incredible to watch that happen. It's immense and pretty surreal, to be honest."
For Christie, the scene was almost unimaginable a few years ago. Growing up, he idolised Messi. "When I was younger, I idolised Messi, so to think you're playing on the same kind of stage as him now is pretty cool, especially the age he's at. Watching him do his thing was unbelievable." Yet the Scotland international never dared dream of making it to a World Cup. "Non-existent," he said. "I don't know if it sounds bad to say that. I had aspirations of playing for Scotland when I was growing up – that was my pinnacle – but you didn't ever think further than that. I never, ever envisioned playing at a Euros, never mind the World Cup."
“Scotland's Ryan Christie says playing on same World Cup stage as idol Lionel Messi is 'pretty surreal'.”
Christie did not grow up watching Scotland at major tournaments – the nation had not qualified for one during his childhood. "I didn't watch Scotland in a major tournament, so in my head that just wasn't really a possibility at that point – and probably why, all those years down the line, when we had that night in Serbia [qualifying for the first Euros under Steve Clarke] it hit home so much." Christie, famously and endearingly, became very emotional in the aftermath of that victory. "[The tears] were because it felt so out of reach for me and a few of the other boys," he said. "So, to be doing this here is incredible. Everybody has that feeling that you're playing on a stage that literally all the eyes across the globe are watching you. You're just desperate to try and make a name for yourself."
Following a cameo appearance off the bench against Haiti, the chance to make his mark could come from the start against the highly-dangerous Morocco in Boston on Friday (2300 BST). Scotland are considerable underdogs, which is fair enough. But every underdog can have their day – and Christie, alongside his teammates, is hungry to seize it.