He came on to the field with a spring in his step and tore up the left wing with boundless energy, clearly determined to make the most of his time in the spotlight on this big occasion. But enough about the dug.
Despite the best efforts of that local pitch invading pooch – and Kieron Bowie, who scored a peach of an opener for Scotland – to steal the spotlight, this was a night that belonged to Andy Robertson.
As the Scots took to the field on the occasion of the captain’s 100th cap, the Tartan Army let their skipper know just what they thought of him. A banner read simply: ‘Robbo 100 Legend’. It is hard to sum up his contribution to the national team more succinctly, or aptly. No fuss, direct, but classy.
Robertson, despite also holding legendary status at Anfield, would never dream of putting himself in the same bracket as Kenny Dalglish, even if he is now closing in on surpassing his good friend as the most-capped Scotland player of all time. He is just two behind King Kenny now, and will surpass, fitness permitting, the tally of the record cap holder for the national side during the November international window.
During his long campaign of national service, Robertson has at times suffered from the expectation that is on his shoulders when he pulls on the dark blue. It was similar for Darren Fletcher when he too was representing one of the giants of the English Premier League and turning out for Scotland. This guy played for Liverpool (or Manchester United, in Fletcher’s case) for crying out loud, so the theory goes, why isn’t he single-handedly running the game?
Of course, such a simplistic view discounts the fact that it is rather difficult for a left back to do such a thing, and also rather ignores – with respect - the lack of world class teammates around about him when he is representing his country. It is far easier to shine when it is Roberto Firminho or Mo Salah you have in front of you, after all.
But Robertson was everything he always is in a Scotland jersey here and actually, a little bit more. He came out of the traps like a man possessed, clearly determined to mark the occasion with a performance worthy of it, and maybe even a rare goal.
Robertson has found the net four times in his century of caps, and he had enough chances in the first 20 minutes of this game to potentially double that tally. His powerful running in behind belied his 32 years, and though his first effort in the opening stages was an effort another Scottish sporting legend in Gavin Hastings would have been proud of, he was unfortunate when he stung the palms of North Macedonian keeper Stole Dimitrievski with a great effort from the edge of the area shortly afterwards.
He had another opportunity moments later, bursting into the box once again ahead of his marker. In hindsight, he might have rolled the ball across goal for Oli McBurnie and if he did, he would almost certainly have added to his 11 assists for his country, but you could forgive him for taking on the shot, even when he screwed it a yard wide.
Despite the domination of the Scots following Bowie’s opener, when Scotland were awarded two penalties – one overturned following a brief VAR review, one awarded for handball against Rangers striker Bojan Miovski after a ludicrously long VAR review – the cheap local brew seemed to make the Tartan Army forget that this wasn’t actually Robertson’s testimonial.
Scotland had been knocking at the door long and loud for the second goal that would guarantee a vital win, but there was never any danger that Robertson was going to be handed the ball when referee François Letexier eventually pointed to the spot after spending so long at the pitchside monitor he could have been binge-watching a Netflix series.
‘Oh Andy, Andy…Andy, Andy, Andy Robertson’ sang the Tartan Army, but it was another old timer – who remarkably has also recently been rather underappreciated – in the shape of John McGinn who stepped up and rolled home to make the three points absolutely certain.
At least, it looked that way. But Scotland being Scotland, it was never going to be that straightforward. And the one blemish on Robertson’s big night was an undercooked attempted square ball to Scott McKenna that put the big centre back into a spot of bother.
He decided to fling himself into the subsequent 50/50, arrived a little late, and for the second match in a row, Scotland were down to 10 men. At least this time it was at the tail end of the game, rather than at the start as it was in midweek against the Swiss, and despite a few scares, the Scots navigated the remainder of the evening against their limited opposition with the minimum of fuss.
In the end, then, this was a step in the right direction for Scotland under Sebastien Pocognoli. And despite that late hiccup, Robertson was an integral part of it all. As he has been for Scotland for 12 years now since his debut under Gordon Strachan in Warsaw.
His last act on the evening was to win the ball high up the pitch in the 95th minute and charge past a couple of challenges, showing age-defying energy and total commitment to the cause.
Which, in the end, was rather fitting.
