Scott McTominay reveals heart treatment before Scotland's win over Haiti
Scott McTominay has revealed that he had treatment for an irregular heartbeat just two days before Scotland's World Cup win over Haiti in June.
The Napoli midfielder spoke about the procedure for the first time in detail. He said he had an ablation, a treatment that uses heat or cold to destroy a small area of heart tissue that sends faulty electrical signals. The operation took place in Manchester. He said he was put to sleep for it, and that he was then given the all-clear to play.
Scotland beat Haiti 1-0 in Massachusetts. McTominay had been cleared before that match, and the timing is the detail that stands out. Two days is a short gap between a heart procedure and a World Cup game.
His route to that tournament was not straightforward. He missed Scotland's first four Nations League fixtures. He was recalled after returning to action with Napoli in Serie A, Italy's top league, and in the Champions League, Europe's biggest club competition.
At the World Cup, he played the full 90 minutes in Scotland's defeats to Morocco and Brazil. Scotland's group run ended without a win in those two matches, though the Haiti result gave them a victory to take home from the tournament.
Irregular heartbeat, medically called an arrhythmia, is a condition where the heart beats too fast, too slow, or without a steady rhythm. Many people with it live normal lives, and treatments like ablation are common. For a professional athlete, though, the question is always when they can safely go back to full training and matches. McTominay's account suggests that decision was made quickly and with medical clearance.
For Scotland supporters, the story will land as a reminder of what their players went through on the way to the tournament. For football fans more broadly, it is a reminder that the players in the big games carry things that never appear on the scoreboard. The World Cup, with its long travel and short turnarounds, is a hard place to be less than fully fit.
McTominay has not, in the reports so far, said how he feels now or what checks he will have going forward. Those questions will be the next thing fans ask, and they are fair ones.
