How Matt O'Riley's World Cup dream set him apart for Ange Postecoglou - but is shared in Celtic dressing room

Matt O’Riley’s international dream with Denmark is exactly the type of ambitious mentality Ange Postecoglou is looking for in his Celtic squad.

Matt O'Riley during a Celtic training session at Lennoxtown. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

The midfielder has represented England at under-18 level and qualifies for the Scandinavian country through his mother. He is being monitored for potential call-up to Kasper Hjulmand’s squad – something he admitted he would struggle to turn down – with Denmark already qualified for Qatar 2022 later this year.

And his club manager can’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be courted and believes the 21-year-old’s determination is an example both of his driven dressing room and to his Celtic Park team-mates. It was one of the reasons he signed him in the first place and his rapid rise since his transfer from MK Dons has done little to dissuade him.

Postecoglou said: “When I spoke to Matt, that was part of the process of me understanding him as a person.

“I could see how ambitious he was. He wants to be the best footballer he can be and get to the very top.

“Whether it is club side or international team, he wants to experience it all.

“What I am hoping is to have a dressing room full of that and that’s the players we have brought in.

“They are hugely ambitious, hugely driven and want to be the best.

“If you have a dressing room full of that, it helps push yourself.”

O’Riley is not alone in his World Cup ambitions at Celtic Park. Croatia have also qualified and Josip Juranovic has designs on adding to his 15 caps by the time November comes round. Internationals alongside him in the Hoops ranks, like Scotland’s Callum McGregor and Greg Taylor, Japan’s Kyogo Furuhashi and Socceroo Tom Rogic have yet to confirm their countries’ places, but are all striving to join him, as is O’Riley.

“Josip is going to a World Cup. I’m sure Cal and the Scottish lads want it, too. Tommy Rogic, Kyogo and the Japanese boys,” Postecoglou went on.

“From that point of view, that’s the kind of dressing I want with players who are driven and ambitious and the best they can be.”

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