New bawl game for O’Riley as he goes in at the deep end via Turkey trip

Matt O’Riley has certainly had an interesting time since he helped Celtic to a 4-0 win over Ross County in the SPFL. 

The former England youth internationalist flew out to Turkey to meet up with the Danish u-21 squad for the first time ahead of tonight’s match back in Herning. 

Some nations are happy to put up a flag of convenience to bring in anyone looking for international recognition but the Danes treat things a bit more seriously and insist that the only language used is Danish. 

O’Riley has had regular holidays with his mum’s family in Denmark but has been working on his language skills as well as training ground techniques. 

Discussing their new recruit, Danish website Tipsbladet reports (Google Translate, obviously).  

That he is now eligible to play for Denmark is due to the fact that his mother is Danish. And although O’Riley almost never speaks Danish on a daily basis, he insists on being prosecuted in his mother’s language when he is part of the national team. 

– I do not want to be the type who comes in and then just speaks English. I do my best to learn and understand Danish, says Matt O’Riley. 

Interviews with the press also take place in Danish. He has to look for the words from time to time, but does not have much trouble understanding the questions. 

– I want my Danish language again, so I do not forget the things I once learned.  Sometimes I can not say what I think and it’s wildly annoying. But it has already gotten better during the week I’ve been here, says Matt O’Riley. 

It will be a very different language on the pitch at Ibrox on Sunday when the top two in the SPFL face up with just seven matches left to play. 

O’Riley has had no difficulty getting himself understood so far at Celtic but like every player they go up a level or two when they come away from Ibrox with the right result.