Ciaran Caldwell says his dream of playing at Celtic Park almost turned into embarrassment after being left flat on his face by former Hoops star Emilio Izaguirre.
Caldwell was part of the Cliftonville squad that played the Scottish giants in the 2013/14 Champions League qualifiers.
Celtic claimed a 3-0 win at Solitude before earning a 2-0 win at home, with Efe Ambrose and Georgios Samaras scoring the goals in the Glasgow leg.
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Lifelong Celtic fan Caldwell realised a lifelong dream by playing at Celtic Park, but admits he was left red-faced after Izaguirre gave him the run-around.
"Izaguirre did a Johan Cruyff turn and my nose nearly struck oil because it hit the ground that hard," Caldwell told Belfast Live's That's What I Call Football podcast.
"Being a massive Celtic fan it was still some experience. I was on holiday when I found out we had Celtic in the draw.
"Barry's (Johnston) mummy and daddy went over, and so did my mummy and daddy. My daddy was actually in the Celtic end. I think he wanted Celtic to hammer us.
"He was probably booing me. The loudest cheer was when my face hit the ground."
Caldwell admits his Celtic experience often gets brought up when he is training with Crumlin United, the Amateur League club he currently manages.
"That was the pinnacle. Playing Celtic in the Champions League," he added.
"Sometimes the Crumlin United boys give me grief in training when I give the ball away in training, but I just hit them with, 'here, have you ever played at Celtic Park'.
"For me that topped everything in my playing career."
Barry Johnston - a first cousin of Caldwell's - also featured in that game against Celtic.
He said: "Izaguirre dropped the shoulder and Ciaran's boot slipped. It was like ice on top and really solid below.
"His face hit the ground and he couldn't get his hands down. He got up and there was grass in his teeth and around his eyes. I remember thinking, 'you better get up, you're making an absolute b******* out our family here, lying like that'.
"The only thing worse was seeing wee Marty Donnelly crying in the dugout because he wasn't on the pitch."
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