Celtic ace Matt O’Riley impressed on his long-awaited Denmark debut with head coach Kasper Hjulmand labelling the Scottish Premiership champion a ‘great midfield talent’.
They do say that one man’s misery is another’s fortune. And, as Christian Eriksen was forced to withdraw from the November internationals due to injury, the opportunity Matt O’Riley has been waiting for fell squarely into his lap.
Despite a series of outstanding performances at Celtic over the last 18 months or so, O’Riley’s full debut for the Danish national team only came this week, the former Fulham youngster starting at Windsor Park.
And, on a night of few positives for a Denmark side who stumbled to a 2-0 defeat in Northern Ireland, a typically cultured O’Riley display at least put a smile on Hjulmand’s face.
Celtic’s Matt O’Riley finally plays for Denmark
“In the last two summers, there has been a bit of voluntary training leading up to the June windows, and Matt just comes over immediately (to train with the first-team),” Hjulmand tells TV2.
“He was good in the U21 team, and I think he has taken extra steps this autumn. Especially in international matches.
“He is a great midfield talent who we would like to put in to play.”
In the form of his life at Celtic, O’Riley has six goals and seven assists for Brendan Rodgers so far this season, including one ‘beautiful’ set-up for Kyogo Furuhashi in the Champions League group-stage draw with Atletico Madrid.
Likened to Frank Lampard
“This season he’s taken his game to a new level,” former Northern Ireland international Stephen Craigan tells the Scottish Sun of O’Riley, who has also been likened to Chelsea legend Frank Lampard due to those well-timed runs into the penalty box.
“The one thing he needed to add is goals, and he’s done that this season. He’s signed a new long term contract and he’s going to be going places.”
Celtic fans will be hoping Craigan doesn’t mean that literally, speculation over O’Riley’s future amid interest from south of the border on the rise again.
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