Aston Villa: John McGinn under fire from Scottish media amid big World Cup talking point

Aston Villa captain John McGinn didn't cover himself in glory as Scotland lost to Morocco overnight.

The Tartan Army were coming off the back of a 1-0 win against Haiti in their opening night of the World Cup.

They didn't replicate that feat and were ultimately undone by last tournament's semi-finalists after just 70 seconds.

Ismael Saibari of PSV Eindhoven opened the scoring with a stunning effort into the top corner to secure all three points.

That has put a dampener on the Scots' chances of qualifying for the round of 32, with a final outing against Brazil coming up.

Things could have been different if not for a true moment of controversy involving McGinn in Boston.

John McGinn controversy sums up Scotland performance vs Morocco

It was always going to be difficult against Morocco after their recent exploits at the World Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations.

That is exactly how it turned out as their quality shone through with just about a minute on the clock.

Mohamed Ouahbi's side went on to have the better of the chances, but strangely couldn't take them.

Morocco maybe got away with one when McGinn was swiped down by Neil El Aynaoui inside the penalty area.

The Villa skipper was adamant that his side warranted a spot kick, but that never came.

That didn't go down well with local outlet The Scotsman, who suggested that the decision sparked "half-hearted appeals for a penalty for one of Scotland's talismen," while showing "little end product".

BBC Sport suggested that McGinn "tried too much on occasion", which is a bizarre verdict in itself.

That wasn't bettered by the Daily Record, who afforded him a six rating, but they were at least somewhat complimentary as he "kept going until departing the scene late".

Aston Villa star McGinn still very busy vs Morocco - what the stats say

It's clear that the national media across the border weren't too impressed with the 31-year-old.

For someone to "try too hard" still seems strange as a put down considering his stats showcase a busy performance.

McGinn featured for 88 minutes and racked up 28 touches and 10 accurate passes in that time.

His one shot came in massively difficult circumstances as a cross was fired in at some speed by Andy Robertson and was near impossible to control.

He still showed his worth with the ball at his feet as he won three duels and was fouled on two occasions.

On another day he would have won a penalty and wouldn't have been wrongly branded as "half hearted" by local press.