Scotland destiny unfolding for Hearts' Craig Gordon - with a little help from Villa Park

That’s certainly true in the case of Craig Gordon, whose remarkable career has taken a new twist following goalie pal Alexander Schwolow’s dismissal on Sunday against Dundee. What some might argue was a harsh red card opened the way for the 43-year-old to make his mark on a season spent, up until that point, looking on from the bench as Hearts emerged as league pacesetters.

Goalkeepers will try to convince you that a good day for them means not having much to do. But Gordon would also have known that he had a little over 45 minutes, plus time added on, to impress. Given Hearts were now playing with ten men, the chances were that he would have plenty to do. It was almost the worst time for a goalkeeper to enter the fray. Right at the end of a first half, having not even touched a ball since the warm up. The hope would be that the defenders can protect you until the whistle blows for the interval, whereupon there’s a 15-minute window to warm-up properly again and get a feel of the ball.

But Gordon had to immediately face a free-kick in a dangerous position. The way he lined his wall up, he almost invited Cameron Congreve to aim for the corner to his left. The on-loan Dundee winger did just that and Gordon was down in an instance to beat the ball away. “I could have saved that!” said Derek McInnes, somewhat harshly, afterwards.

What the Hearts manager couldn’t have saved was substitute Emile Acquah’s net-bound header in the dying moments. Few people in the world would have been able to do so. We’ve all seen it by now, probably umpteen times. Hearts fans have been watching it on a loop, understandably. What a privilege to have been there to watch this extraordinary sportsman do what he did. And yes, we’ve reached the point where Gordon ought to be celebrated for being a standout in the field of all those still playing professional sport worldwide, not just as a footballer or goalkeeper. He had already become a phenomenon for the ease with which he slotted back into the Scotland team with no competitive action to speak of as Steve Clarke’s side earned a World Cup place.

The last time he had an active role in public prior to trotting on to replace Schwolow was lighting the torch to start Edinburgh’s Torchlight Procession just under two weeks earlier.

Reduced to such ceremonial duties, the fear was that lack of opportunity at first-team level might severely hamper his chances of playing for Scotland in North America this summer. I mean, not playing competitive football for a few weeks and maybe months is one thing. A full year with just, at best, sporadic appearances? Challenging in the extreme.

But now Gordon has a chance to put himself in pole position for Hearts – and Scotland.

The Villa Park moment

I mentioned the misfortune of others above. Strangely, something that happened at Villa Park earlier this month has potentially strengthened Gordon’s hand Scotland-wise, to use an appropriate phrase.

At the time, the only relevance to Gordon or even Scotland as Aston Villa went 3-1 up against Nottingham Forest was that the goal was scored by John McGinn, his second of the match. But the Scotland midfielder was very much aided by a terrible decision by Forest ‘keeper John Victor to come rushing out for a through ball he was never going to get. McGinn gathered and pushed the ball past the stranded Victor from all of 30 yards. It soon transpired the ‘keeper had added injury to insult while making a desperate attempt to retrieve the situation. A knee problem means he has not appeared in either of Forest’s games since, including Friday night’s FA Cup defeat by Wrexham on penalties. A certain A. Gunn was on the bench.

The little detail could have enormous consequences. Gunn, Scotland’s first-choice ‘keeper when their World Cup campaign started in September, has clearly recovered from his own knee injury that saw Gordon handed the gloves against Greece and Denmark in November.

Gunn’s return is A Good Thing. But Victor’s injury could well be A Bad Thing for Scotland if the Brazilian is ruled out for a considerable spell. Will Forest countenance Gunn leaving, as the ‘keeper himself stressed he would be looking to do this month having been demoted to No.3 following Victor’s arrival? Depending on the length of time Victor is sidelined, maybe not. Of course, manager Sean Dyche might recognise Gunn’s situation and permit him to find another club, providing Forest can recruit cover. He only a signed a one-year contract last summer after all.

But it’s another layer of intrigue in the ongoing question of who steps out wearing the gloves for Scotland at the Gillette stadium in Boston v Haiti on 14 June – or 13 June for those lucky enough to be in in America. Gordon, again fitness permitting, can count on being there. Even if he doesn’t play again this season following Wednesday’s clash with St Mirren, when he seems certain replace the suspended Schwolow, his heroics at Dens all but guarantee his inclusion in the squad.

But he’s clearly desperate to keep re-writing the record books. He’s already Scotland’s oldest-ever player. He wants to keep the Scotland No. 1 jersey for March’s friendlies, slated to be against Japan and Ivory Coast. And who’s to say he won’t now?

These games would take him to 85 caps. With two more friendlies to come prior to the World Cup, he could hit 90 caps in the tournament itself – against Brazil. That would leave Gordon one short of Jim Leighton’s total, the current most-capped Scotland 'keeper and second behind Kenny Dalglish in the all-time list. Nothing – including Acquah’s header, unbelievably – is beyond him.