The complex back-story driving on Celtic’s impressive new signing

When someone looks for international recognition from other than their nation of birth the standard reaction is for others to sneer at the notion. 

Sometimes it goes much further than that as James McCarthy and Aiden McGeady discovered in their teenage years, sometimes the nation of choice is the real issue. 

London has always been a melting pot, with or without Brexit it draws people from across the world with Matt O’Riley a product of that. 

Born to a Danish mother, who has a Norwegian father, O’Riley has been capped by England at u-16 and u-18 level in much the same way as Ryan Giggs turned out for England at schoolboy level. 

O’Riley has sparkled in his month at Celtic, with Denmark appearing at the World Cup Finals later this year he could be a contender with the young midfielder well aware of his roots and his international options: 

Speaking to The Sun O’Riley said: 

If Denmark called me up now  I would be very honoured indeed. It’s a World Cup year and that’s definitely an aim in the back of my head, I’ll be honest. 

Some people would say it’s a long shot, but at the same time I’m playing for Celtic, and hopefully next season we’ll be in the Champions League. 

That would also get me recognition to help get me on to the international stage. I’m going to take it game-by-game and see what happens. 

I’ve already spoken to the coach on the phone — he’s a nice guy and I’ll be speaking with them again to see what the plan is. They have a very strong side. 

Denmark showed that at the Euros and in the World Cup qualifiers but I can only take it game-by-game here and hopefully the rest takes care of itself. 

I’m half-Danish, as my mum’s from Denmark and I like the country. I can speak a decent amount of the language, and can understand it pretty well. I’ve been over a few times to see family I’m close with. 

They are from just outside Copenhagen, which is a really nice place. I’ve spent a lot of time there in the summer and really enjoy it. My mum’s dad is Norwegian so I could play for Norway too — as well as England — but I wouldn’t say that I feel Norwegian very much. 

In the here and now three points this afternoon against Dundee is all that matters to O’Riley but winning the SPFL title and playing in the Champions League won’t do his prospects of a World Cup place any harm.