AFC Bournemouth
Under-18s defender Brennan Camp marked his maiden Scotland under-19s call-up with a goal against Azerbaijan to top off a week-long training camp in Spain.
The youth team captain, who is also currently on a work experience loan with Dorchester, was called up for the first time as the Scotland under-19s headed to Alicante for a week of training as well as friendlies against Spain and Azerbaijan.
Camp follows in the footsteps of his grandfather, Gerry Gow, who also represented Scotland at under-23s level during his playing career.
Portland-native Camp spoke to afcb.co.uk about his trip to the Mediterranean coast, which started with a flight up to Scotland.
Camp started: “I flew up to Glasgow by myself and met up with the rest of the squad on the Monday. We then had a team meeting and flew out the morning after to Alicante.
“I didn’t know anybody so it was quite hard, there were only one or two of us who were new to the team and everybody else knew each other. It took me one or two days to settle in but they were a great bunch of lads and the team spirit was very good, they all helped me to settle.
“I didn’t expect the training to be much different to what I'm used to here but the quality was just unbelievable. There wasn’t one bad player and the tempo and how good they all were technically was quite a big step, I thought I coped with it quite well and dealt with it.
“For the first game with Spain I wasn’t really expecting to play, it was just great to be there. Listening to the national anthem, it was quite a proud moment for me, the lads got a 1-1 draw and it was quite a good game for us to go into first.
While he didn't play in the opening game of the trip, Camp got his opportunity from the start against Azerbaijan and played the full match, culminating with a proud personal moment in the dying embers of the game.
“I knew I was playing the day before the Spain game, the manager Billy Stark told me I’d be on the bench for the first game but they’d look to start me in the second game against Azerbaijan," he said.
“In the game they had a player sent off in the first ten minutes or so, they were quite physical and wanted to battle, there were a lot of fouls and there could have been more red cards. I had quite a lot of time on the ball and didn’t really give it away, I won my headers and tried to stay calm and composed, I was happy with my performance.
“In the last minute I got into the box and the assistant, Malkay MacKay, said to us centre-backs to go and get our head on the ball. There was a great cross in to me at the back stick, I got above the defender and headed it back across goal and in. Then the final whistle went and I was buzzing, it was really good.
“I’ve kept my shirt and I've got it here with me, along with the banner you get before the game, that will probably go in a frame and up on the wall.
“After the game my mum and dad didn’t know I’d scored, they thought it was the other centre-back, I had to tell them and they couldn’t believe it. I got a lot of messages and support from back home, that was great.”
Camp has now returned to Bournemouth and will be hoping to start in next Tuesday's FA Youth Cup quarter-final with Manchester City, with Scotland under-19s meeting up again in March for a training camp and European Championship qualifiers in Portugal.
