Despite being born in London and having come through the Fulham ranks, Celtic’s Matt O’Riley has decided to represent Denmark.
Able to represent the country through his mother’s side of the family (he could have chosen Norway too), the midfielder, who signed for Ange Postecoglou’s side in January from MK Dons, has come extremely close to getting his first cap.
However, the Celtic midfielder will have to make do with the U21s for the time being, for whom he has already played four times, scoring one goal.
That being said, this latest setback in his international career doesn’t mean that his chances of making the World Cup are gone completely, with first-team manager Kasper Hjulmand offering him some hope in his press conference after announcing his squad for the upcoming games against Croatia and France.
He said, relayed by Bold: “Matt was not fit to play the group final against Croatia, and it makes much more sense for Matt and his chance of getting to the World Cup that he plays games for the U21s. If we think we can use him with us, then of course we have to take him.
“There are some from the U21 team who are fighting to make it to a potential World Cup, and that is also possible. Someone in the U21s could emerge, but we have assessed that it’s better that they play two U21 games rather than sitting with us and not getting into the game.”
O’Riley, who spent six months without a team after leaving Fulham in 2020, has got his career back on track nicely after signing for MK Dons in 2021.
He is now one of the regulars in Postecoglou’s side, and has repaid the faith from the Australian manager at Celtic by assisting five goals in the first six league games he has played in this season.
