When news broke that Alistair Johnston had been named alongside the likes of Ruben Dias and Antonio Rudiger on the long list of defenders in contention to be included in the FIFA ‘Best XI’, it was a heart stopping moment for the Celtic defender in more ways than one.
Initially, he was rather mystified and more than a little alarmed as he woke to a deluge of messages from his family back home in Canada, fearing that something horrible must have happened.
Thankfully, that turned out not to be the case, but while the news was in fact very good, he remained rather mystified by it, nonetheless.
The modest full back is over the moon though to have been included alongside such stellar company, a recognition for his fine form for both club and country over the past 12 months. Even if he may have appreciated a little heads' up ahead of the news breaking.
“I just woke up and I had a couple of messages from people that don't normally message me,” Johnston said.
“My aunts, uncles. I thought what in the world's going on? I thought something had happened. And obviously you think the worst, you're waking up and you click on a photo and you see, oh, you're on a long list for the Best Eleven. And you're like, okay, well that was...the heartbeat slowed down a little bit there because I was actually fearing the worst.
“But no, it's a weird thing. You would think that maybe they'd call your agent and pass it through the grapevine a little bit. But no, it's right on the social media. And that's how you kind of find out. It's funny. It's a great accolade.
“It was something I wasn't expecting, but obviously a pleasant surprise. You look at the list of players that are on that, it's a pretty special list.
“To think that I'm even a name that was even thought of for that was obviously a nice honour for myself. You don't really play for the personal awards. Obviously, we always play for the trophies in the team aspect.
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“That's one that I think is more important for my dad and my family back home. He'll be probably dropping that one in on trivia night at the pub. So, it's good that he'll have that one in the back pocket.
“But yeah, it was a pretty cool thing to wake up to one morning to see that. It was a very good calendar year for myself. Both off the field and on the field. So no, it is nice to get some recognition for that.
“But at the same time, I’m not really too worried about those kind of things. We're just focused on, again, the next match, lifting up trophies here. Those kind of things go hand in hand.
“It's what I've learned since I've been here. And you just focus on doing the little things, doing the little things right and being a good professional. Then, yeah, you might end up falling into a list like that somehow.
“So, it was a nice little touch.”
Celtic and Johnston kick off a massive week with a home match against Hibernian today before a trip to face Dinamo Zagreb in a crucial Champions League tie, before the League Cup final against Rangers next weekend.
“Every week's a big week here, it feels like,” he said.
“Hibs, not going to be an easy test at Celtic Park, we're ready for a tough game. They've obviously had an uptick in form since they got back from the international break and we're expecting to see a couple of different things and we're looking forward to that challenge.
“And then after that, Zagreb away, another massive Champions League match where we have a chance to put some, hopefully, points on the board which would take us one step closer to the knockout stage.
“And then obviously after that, a cup final, a chance for a trophy, which is why you come to Celtic to play in matches like that.
“So yeah, it is a big week.”
“He's an unbelievable footballer,” he said.
“Obviously he doesn't maybe have the legs that he used to have from five years ago, but in tight spaces he's a joyous footballer.
“And he gave me a right doing in the cup semi-final against Aberdeen last year! So he hasn't let me live that one down and I haven't forgotten that one either. But no, he's a top player and always whenever we play small-sided at national team he's one of the first picks.
“He's so good in his space. So he's someone that we're going to have to really be aware of, especially if they play in between the lines, which we might see.
“So yeah, we're expecting a good match.”
