With Scotland’s exit from Euro 2024 effectively ending Celtic fan interest in international football, it was kind of easy to forget that Alistair Johnston still had unfinished business in the Copa America this summer.
The Celtic defender has been a stand-out in the tournament and has helped Canada create history in the tournament this summer.
Johnston booked his place in the semi-finals after a win against Venezuela teed up a tie against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
With hopes high of booking a place in the final against Uruguay, Johnston and his Canadian teammates crashed out after goals from Julian Alvarez (22m) and Lionel Messi (51m) resulted in a 2-0 defeat in the Metlife Stadium.
Johnston ‘frustrated’ at Copa America exit
Alistair Johnston has been solid for his national team in the Copa America. It’s fair to say Canada was the surprise package of the tournament and whilst Argentina were heavy favourites heading into the semi-final, the defeat left the Celtic defender gutted.
Johnston said [TSN], “We can’t be too frustrated with the gap. It’s the best team in the world. It’s been producing players that have gone down in the pantheon of greatest of all time for a century now.
“So you can’t say that you’re surprised by the gap. It is frustrating because now we’re at that level where we can compete with these teams.
“And again, we create chances. And I think that the most frustrating part is that if you get one of those in the first half, maybe it’s a different game.
“And it’s a very similar script to the first time we played them. They kind of score one and then they didn’t create too much in the first half and then we had a couple of big chances.
“Then they score that one and then again, just a little lapse in concentration in the second half and they get an easy one and the game’s really out of reach.
“And even then, we still had chances but you can tell they were they were a lot more comfortable in their situation.
“So it’s frustrating in that aspect because we are getting so much closer. And again, our rise has been rapid over these past couple of years.
“And to think that you are even mad that we’re getting knocked out in the Copa America semifinal by Argentina but at the same time, that’s what you want.
“You want to be frustrated. You want to have a feeling that we were there, not just, ‘We shared the pitch with them.’, we’re not feeling that.
“We’re feeling, ‘I wish we could have a little more there’, so that’s the frustrating part for me.”
Alistair Johnston’s performance for Canada vs Argentina
The Celtic defender put in a solid shift against Lionel Messi’s side. Rated 6.7 by Fotmob, Johnston stood up well to the current world champions and was Canada’s second-best player on the night.
Winning fou duels, Johnston tried to keep the Argentinians at bay in the Canadian defence. The Hoops hero also made five defensive actions, six ball recoveries, one interception and two clearances.
Johnston also has 65 touches and made 53 passes with an accuracy of 87%. The Celtic star also had a dribbling accuracy of 100% and was dispossessed just once by his opponents.
The 26-year-old will play in the third-place play-off at the weekend and then get a well-earned rest before heading back to Glasgow and Celtic to prepare for the season ahead and the 2024 USA Summer Tour.
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