Some hard news arrives quietly and only later finds its voice. Scott McTominay, the Napoli midfielder once of Manchester United, spent the days before Scotland's World Cup opener in a hospital bed, sedated so doctors could correct an irregular heartbeat, and then went out to play in a 1-0 win over Haiti as though nothing had interrupted him. Only now, after the tournament had passed through its hardest weeks, has he chosen to speak of it, and in doing so he has placed a private fear inside the ordinary, demanding rhythm of professional sport. His account is less about the procedure itself than
McTominay Reveals Heart Procedure Two Days Before Scotland's World Cup Opener
Sat in a hospital bed two days before the World Cup opener
Mark
Why does it matter that he played the Haiti game two days after a heart procedure?
Mimi
Because it shows how close it ran. He was sedated and treated, then cleared to start the World Cup opener, and he played 90 minutes in the next two games as well.
Mark
He talks about the shock to the heart in June and an ablation in the autumn. Are those the same thing?
Luke
The reporting doesn't say. He describes one treatment in June, and a separate ablation in Manchester more recently. How they connect medically isn't spelled out, so I wouldn't assume.
Mark
What does he say about how serious it was?
Mimi
He calls it relatively straightforward and says it went really well. He also says it looks worse to outsiders who see a headline about a heart issue.
Luke
That's his own account, though. We don't have a statement from the club or doctors, and no details on the underlying condition.
Mark
And the missed games?
Mimi
Four Nations League fixtures, with one win, one draw and two defeats. He's since returned for Napoli and in the Champions League.
Luke
Worth noting the source doesn't say the absence was caused only by the procedure, or give a recovery timeline. We know he missed them and that he's now recalled.
Mark
What's next?
Mimi
North Macedonia at home on Friday, then Switzerland away on Monday.
Der Puls
- Two days before Scotland's World Cup opener against Haiti, a heart rhythm problem forced McTominay onto a hospital bed instead of a training pitch.
- Doctors sedated him to correct the irregularity, and the shock of it landed on a player who believed he was in peak condition.
- He was cleared to play, took the field for the full 90 minutes against Haiti, and kept going through the defeats to Morocco and Brazil.
- A later minimally invasive ablation in Manchester followed, and it cost him four Nations League fixtures while Scotland's season wobbled.
- Now recalled to the squad, he is back at Napoli and in Champions League action, pushing toward a return that feels stronger and closer to his own standard.
Some hard news arrives quietly and only later finds its voice. Scott McTominay, the Napoli midfielder once of Manchester United, spent the days before Scotland's World Cup opener in a hospital bed, sedated so doctors could correct an irregular heartbeat, and then went out to play in a 1-0 win over Haiti as though nothing had interrupted him. Only now, after the tournament had passed through its hardest weeks, has he chosen to speak of it, and in doing so he has placed a private fear inside the ordinary, demanding rhythm of professional sport. His account is less about the procedure itself than about returning to the work he loves, and about how a body's small disturbance can ask a man to measure what matters most.
Two days before Scotland opened their World Cup campaign against Haiti in June, Scott McTominay was lying in a hospital bed, waiting to be sedated so doctors could correct his heartbeat. He has only now spoken about it publicly, and his words carry the weight of a man who had prepared well and felt ready, only to have the ground shift beneath him.
The Napoli midfielder, who is 29 and formerly of Manchester United, described needing a shock to the heart. He was cleared to play, and he went on to start the 1-0 victory over Haiti in Massachusetts and then played the full 90 minutes in the defeats to Morocco and Brazil. He admitted the timing was hard to take, and he asked himself how it could be happening to him. His answer was that football deals out such cards, and you have to get on with it.
In the autumn, he underwent an ablation in Manchester, a minimally invasive procedure to correct irregular heart rhythms, and he spoke warmly of the club and medical staff who looked after him. The operation cost him Scotland's first four Nations League fixtures, and he has since returned to Napoli and the Champions League.
He says he feels much better and that the operation needed to be done. He knows a heart issue looks far worse from the outside, to the media and to the friends and family who reach out, than it felt from within. For him, being back and playing is the thing that matters most, and he means to come back stronger, focusing on recovery, good food and sleep, and then on the next game.
Two days before Scotland opened their World Cup campaign against Haiti in June, Scott McTominay was lying in a hospital bed waiting to be put to sleep so doctors could correct his heartbeat. He has only now spoken about it publicly.
The Napoli midfielder, who is 29 and formerly of Manchester United, says he needed what he described as a shock to the heart. He was sedated so that his rhythm could be corrected, and was then cleared to play in the opening 1-0 victory over Haiti in Massachusetts. He went on to play the full 90 minutes in Scotland's defeats to Morocco and Brazil as well.
He said the timing was hard to take. He felt he had prepared well and was in top condition, and then this happened. He recalled asking himself how it could be happening to him. His view was that football deals out such cards and you have to get on with it. He said he was fully fit, but admitted that sitting in a hospital bed two days before the first game of a World Cup is not ideal.
The episode was not the end of it. In the autumn, McTominay underwent an ablation in Manchester, a minimally invasive operation to correct irregular heart rhythms. He praised his club and the medical staff who treated him.
The procedure cost him international time. He missed Scotland's first four Nations League fixtures, which brought one win, one draw and two defeats. He has since returned to domestic and Champions League action with Napoli, and has been recalled to the Scotland squad.
He says he feels much better than he did, and that the operation was something that needed to be done. He acknowledged that news of a heart issue looks far worse to people in the media, and to the family and friends who reach out after reading it, than the reality. In his words, it was a relatively straightforward procedure and it went very well.
McTominay said being back and playing is the most important thing in his life, and that he wants to prove himself again and reach another level. He framed his approach as coming back stronger: no matter how well he plays in one game, the focus moves to the next, to recovering well, eating the right things and sleeping properly.
Scotland, under Sebastien Pocognoli, host North Macedonia on Friday and travel to Switzerland on Monday, with McTominay back in the squad for both.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
It's a relatively straightforward procedure, which went really, really well in Manchester.— Scott McTominay
For me, it's always about coming back stronger.— Scott McTominay
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