Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley has stated that it would be is dream to play alongside Brentford star Christian Eriksen on international duty.
Eriksen is back in the Premier League with the The Bees after a major scare at Euro 2020 in the summer. Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest in a match against Finland that looked as though it would have a major affect on his playing career at the very least.
However, a heroic comeback has seen the player roar back to life in the EPL. He’s also been recalled back into the Danish squad for next week’s friendlies against the Netherlands and Serbia respectively.
Meanwhile, O’Riley’s form at Celtic since his £1.5m move [Sky Sports] has been phenomenal. And after bagging his first call-up for the U21s, the midfielder has admitted that he would love to play alongside his hero at senior level.
As quoted by the Glasgow Times, O’Riley said: “The headlines this week over in Denmark have been about the return of Christian Eriksson into the national team again and it is a huge thing for the country. They are all so excited that he is back in the team. It is such a big boost for the country. I would definitely like to aim to play alongside him one day; that would be cool.
“I watched all of the Euros and I watched that game. It was awful to see and really scary just to watch it from a distance. Even if you aren’t a Danish fan I think everyone sympathised with what happened and it is fantastic now to see him back playing. I knew he had played 90 minutes the other week so he is obviously feeling fit again which is just amazing to see.
“It shows how good the treatment he got was and how advanced medical science is that he has been able to come back from something so serious and feel confident of getting back to the level before. It is so cool to see.”
Matt O’Riley dreaming of a Christian Eriksen partnership with Denmark
It certainly won’t be an easy task for O’Riley to break into the senior squad with Denmark. He’ll be up against the likes of Daniel Wass, Jens Jonsson, and Jens Stage won’t be giving up their places in the squad easily.
But O’Riley is only 21 years of age. He has plenty of time before he needs to concern himself with the senior side. A sustained impact at U21 level will be his main focus for now.
At 30 years of age, Eriksen still has plenty left to give the Danish senior side too. O’Riley will certainly have his opportunities to play alongside him if he plays his cards right.
It’s clear that O’Riley is valued highly in the Danish setup. If he wasn’t they wouldn’t have tried to convince him to play for them instead of England. In addition to that, U21 coach Jesper Sorensen has labelled him a “technically really good player” in a glowing review published by Danish outlet Tipsbladet.
The spotlight and pressure will be on him to impress in the U21 squad immediately. If he manages to do that as well as keep his club form up, then the sky will be the limit for him on the international stage.
Fingers crossed he reaches his goal of playing with Eriksen at senior level. If he does, it’ll be because he’s absolutely flying at Celtic Park.
In other news, Carl Starfelt left highly impressed with Celtic teammate who is “taking his opportunities”
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