Some of the first messages to light up Andy Robertson’s phone arrived from close friends who will have to be briefly reclassified as enemies next summer.
From Jordan Henderson, his trusted captain at Liverpool. From Trent Alexander-Arnold, Robertson’s raiding reflection at right-back. From Joe Gomez, the gifted central defender cruelly cut down by injury.
This group of England players offered heartfelt congratulations to a club colleague who had just captained his country to success in Serbia, sealed a place at Euro 2020 and turned the page on Scotland’s 22-year story of disappointment.
They knew exactly how much it mattered.