John McGinn hits back at Stale Solbakken over scrapped World Cup warm-up | OneFootball

Aston Villa captain John McGinn has defended Scotland after Stale Solbakken condemned the cancellation of a World Cup training game as unprofessional.

The sides had arranged a 60-minute behind-closed-doors run-out at Scotland’s Charlotte base on Monday, but it was scrapped on Sunday because of injuries. Speaking to NRK after Norway’s 1-1 draw with Scotland’s Group C rivals Morocco, Solbakken called the decision unprofessional and criticised how it was communicated.

McGinn said Scotland had to prioritise player welfare following the loss of Billy Gilmour before flying to the United States, noting there were further niggles and limited training time. He added that any nation, including Norway if deprived of Erling Haaland or Martin Odegaard, would likely have taken the same view.

Solbakken said: “It was at least as surprising to me and it is unprofessional of Scotland. It is unprofessional that the coach has not called me, that they use the team manager and call and say it after we have finished training. I don’t think the injuries they’re blaming came from the last training session.”

Norway team manager Brede Hangeland said: “We have been working on that match for many months. It is embarrassing to cancel it a couple of days before.”

A Scottish Football Association spokesperson said the game was arranged between team managers, not head coaches, and was dropped when the risk outweighed the preparatory benefit. They said Norway were informed as soon as possible and expressed surprise the private fixture became public. Norway are based in Greensboro, about 90 miles from Scotland’s camp.

Source: ExpressAndStar.com