McTominay Had Heart Shock Treatment Two Days Before Scotland’s World Cup Opener

• Scott McTominay had shock treatment on his heart under sedation two days before Scotland’s World Cup opener, per The Guardian.
• His absence from training was put down to a stomach complaint, and he played in the 1-0 win over Haiti.
• The Napoli midfielder calls it probably the most disappointed he has been in his career.

A Hospital Bed in Boston and a Game Still to Play

Two days before Scotland opened their World Cup against Haiti, Scott McTominay was in a hospital in Boston having his heart reset. A police escort took him there. Doctors used anaesthetic to put him to sleep, then used shock treatment on his heart.

The explanation offered for his absence from training was a stomach complaint. McTominay played in the game anyway. Now 29, he described it for the first time at a press conference in Glasgow ahead of Scotland’s Nations League match against North Macedonia.

“The World Cup was difficult for me to be honest. I had to go and get the shock on my heart. It was two days before the Haiti game and you have prepared so well. I was in such good condition and then something like that happens. And you think: ‘How is this happening to me?’ But then you have to get on with it.”

“These are cards you are dealt in football. Sometimes things don’t go your way and you have to continue to do your best. It’s nowhere near an excuse but it’s something you have to look back on and say it’s part of the process.”

“Whenever you are sitting in a hospital bed two days before the first game at the World Cup, about to get put to sleep it’s not ideal is it? When things like that happen it is what it is, there’s nothing you can do about it. After the World Cup I reflected on it and it’s probably the most disappointed I have been in my career.”

What the Irregular Beat Felt Like

The heart problem is not new. McTominay had an operation in September and missed Scotland’s first four Nations League matches. He noticed the symptoms a few days before the Haiti game and told manager Steve Clarke, who took them seriously.

“Atrial fibrillation is a fairly normal routine thing for people in general,” he said.

“They might not know that they have it. But when you’re an elite athlete across football or sport, you know if you’ve got something that’s different. Whenever you’re running, you check your pulse and it’s got a slight irregular beat there.”

“It feels like your heart’s coming out of your chest. That’s the sensation that you have. That it’s pumping, but not a regular heartbeat, like bum, bum, bum, bum. Mine was going bum, bu-bu-bum, bum, bu-bu-bum. So you know the difference.”

He went back to full training and returned to the Napoli team in early October.

“I’m feeling much, much better than what I was,” said McTominay. “It [the operation] was something that needed to be done. In your career you have moments like that, where things can take you by surprise. It looks a lot worse to people in the media and family or friends who reach out to you when they see news relating to a heart issue, but it was a relatively straightforward procedure which went really, really well in Manchester. I’m really happy to be back and playing football again.”

“It was explained to me really well by the doctors at Napoli and my cardiologist in Manchester so the process was really straightforward. The doctor with Scotland when we were away at the World Cup explained, if that was going to be the case how it would look. All the staff members made me feel so relaxed about the situation.”

Playing Through It and Getting Over It

Clarke had confirmed him fit and available for Haiti, and Scotland won 1-0 in Boston. They then lost to Brazil and Morocco and went out in the group stage. McTominay’s performances were among those criticised, and the campaign ended with Clarke’s resignation.

“Was it on my mind in the games? No, I put it to bed. I tried my best, anyway. Whenever you go under anaesthetic and you have to get put to sleep, it decreases the athletic performance a little bit, as well as your sleep and stuff like that.”

“But you have to get back round to doing it again. It was far from ideal but those are the cards you’re dealt, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“You know yourself as a professional footballer if you’re not quite where you should be,” McTominay said. “You just try to block it out. Were there concerns from my family about playing? No, I wouldn’t have listened to it. They had just flown 10 hours for the first game of the World Cup.”

“I didn’t sit there thinking I might not play. That would never be the case. I was always going to play in that game. Maybe selfishly, I don’t know.”

“I’d worked for 20 years as a young footballer and as a professional to get to that point. To try and play well at a World Cup. Players play with injuries all the time when they’re not quite right. But I was fully functional.”

“It wasn’t easy after the World Cup. I probably had two or three weeks of putting my head in the sand, thinking we let one slip. That was the bottom line.”

“It took me longer than it normally would to get over disappointment in football. The reason why I felt like that was because we could have done more. It was probably one of the worst moments of my career.”

On the pitch, McTominay has scored five goals for Napoli after returning in early October, including doubles against Bodø/Glimt and Roma. Clarke’s successor, Sébastien Pocognoli, will call on him for the first time when North Macedonia visit Hampden Park on Friday.