Can Ferguson step up for Scotland after Coppa Italia heroics?

Lewis Ferguson became the first Scot to win the Coppa Italia in 30 years, displaying all the warrior-like traits that made him Bologna’s captain and a darling of the Serie A club’s supporters.

Ferguson left the field after recovering from an injury to play in the match between AC Milan and Rafael Leao after receiving treatment for a bloody nose and copping a boot in the face from the Portuguese attacker.

Ferguson helped lead Bologna to its first major trophy in 51 years after returning from the fray with his nostrils plugged and face ballooning.

The 25-year-old told BBC Scotland, “I have blood all over my face and have a little swollen in my shirt, but it was such an incredible night.”

“There was a champagne swimming pool. We had a really nice party, but we didn’t get much sleep.

“We are now a part of history.”

Ferguson has excelled since moving to Italy in 2022, winning the club captaincy in the same year and being named Serie A midfielder of the year for the years 2023 to 2024.

He has also experienced difficulty.

Ferguson missed over 200 games of football with knee ligament injuries in April 2024 and a hamstring issue that threatened to make him unavailable for Wednesday’s final, leaving aside the difficulties of living and playing abroad.

When I lifted the trophy, he said, “All those difficult times throughout the last year dealing with the injury were worth it.”

To move to a new country and have the people there welcome you, you want to pay them back with nights like Wednesday because I’ve never played outside of Scotland before.

We left the field before the game so we could look around, and the Bologna end was already full, the flags were everywhere, and they were already singing. I was enthralled by it.

It was amazing to witness their faces when the referee blew the final whistle.

The only Scot to have won the Coppa Italia to date, Graeme Souness the first Scot since Graeme Souness, has just 14 caps, the majority of them off-base.

Ferguson was one of the substitutes for the second leg, a 3-0 defeat, while returning to the starting lineup for Scotland’s 1-0 Nations League play-off victory over Greece in March.

John McGinn and Kenny McLean of Norwich City, who are the team’s long-time favorites, are also regulars in Scotland, along with fellow Serie A Caledonians Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay, whose league-leading Napoli hope to win the Scudetto next weekend.

Ferguson remarked on the Scottish team’s success in Italy, saying: “Josh Doig has just won Serie B and Sassuolo has just returned to the league.” Che Adams has scored important goals for Torino this season.