SUCH is his admiration for Matt O’Riley as a player, Denmark under-21 coach Jesper Sorensen is sure that the Celtic midfielder’s football will make the most persuasive argument for his inclusion in the Danish senior squad for the forthcoming World Cup. But he has put a good word in with head coach Kasper Hjulmand in any case.
O’Riley played his last match for the Denmark under-21s against Croatia on Tuesday night, scoring the opening goal in a 2-1 win, though the Danes would ultimately fall at the final hurdle of European Championship qualifying as they lost 5-4 on penalties.
Despite that heartache though, Sorensen’s heart was also filled with pride at what how his team performed on the night, and no one gave him more cause for that pride than O’Riley. His team’s loss though, he feels, may very well be the senior side’s gain.
Sorensen has been blown away by the impact the Celtic man has made since deciding to represent the country of his mother’s birth back in March, saying that his quality has surpassed all expectations, and singling out his willingness to be the best player he possibly can as one of his key attributes.
It is an attitude that may in fact take him all the way to Qatar, with Sorensen admitting he has bending Hjelmund’s ear about the 21-year-old, who has settled into life at international level as seamlessly as he did when making the step up to Celtic from MK Dons.
When asked if O’Riley was being discussed for an imminent call-up to the senior Denmark squad, Sorensen said: “Yes. Kasper and I always discuss the players we have in the under-21s, and Matt is one of the highest profile players in our squad.
“I think he has been doing very well. He has given us more than I ever expected.
“I know he is very ambitious, but coming into a new scenario with a whole new team, I think he has given us more than I thought he would and that has been very good.
“I have spoken to Kasper about Matt and he is also following him. Matt has been progressing with the team all along since the first time he came.
“It was difficult for Matt at first I think - though he might disagree - coming into a new environment where he had to learn new things and speak Danish, but he has such commitment that he wants us to speak Danish to him.
“That helps him to learn much faster and catch up much faster, but he just wanted us to do things as normal.
“He has blended in very well with the team and the guys, and he is clearly a very good player. And he is a very good person as well.
“He is so committed to his football, but he is also a very good teammate and he wants to help his teammates.
“He is very open minded, and I can only praise Matt for what he has done, coming into a team that he doesn’t know and playing for Denmark. He has been a great representative for Denmark so far.
“It would have been a difficult decision for him, because he had choices. It just speaks to the sort of person that Matt is, he’s very mature and he’s perfectly capable of making decisions like that and sticking to them.
“I think that he is such a well-balanced person, he will have given it a quite a lot of thought before committing to Denmark, and that is very important to us. We don’t want people to shop around and then play for Denmark, you have to be committed to play for Denmark.
“It’s a very personal thing, and I know that Matt was very proud when he made his debut. I hope that he is proud to represent Denmark and he is a very good representative for Denmark.
“I have only praise for Matt. It shows courage to step in and he really has that.”
Given the praise that is coming his way at present from all quarters, and the subsequent interest from a host of suitors from the English Premier League, there may normally be a fear that any 21-year-old could have his head turned.
Sorensen is certain though that O’Riley has the mentality to cope with any speculation and remain focused on his football at Celtic, despite big-spending Newcastle United being the latest to make their admiration of O’Riley known.
“I think his maturity really helps him,” he said. “I don’t think he gets carried away.
“I guess that in Britain there is a lot of talk right now about Matt, but there is in Denmark as well.
“He doesn’t seem to get carried away, he primarily is focusing solely on becoming a better player, and any time we get him here from Celtic we can see he is becoming a better player.
“I think he is a clever boy, he’s mature and he is at peace with himself and his decisions. And he is at peace with where is at the moment and what he wants to do.
“In Denmark, everybody has noticed what he has done at Celtic, and he is now playing in the Champions League regularly, which of course is fantastic for a young man.
“There is a bit of hype for Matt also in Denmark.”
Sorensen is more than willing to add to that hype as he gave an appraisal of O’Riley’s on-field attributes, while like any good coach, making sure he also earmarked where he has room for improvement.
“In my opinion, the ability to find space and have time on the ball is absolutely his biggest quality,” he said.
“He always seems to have plenty of time when he is on the ball, his passing range is very good, and another thing is that he wants to get into the box too.
“He scored a very good goal for us here against Croatia in the last game with a header, and he has a very good strike with his left foot within 20 metres of the goal.
“The only area I would say where he has a bit of progression still to go is without the ball, he has to put a bit more intensity in when he doesn’t have the ball
“When you are playing for Celtic, you are mostly ball dominant, and that is very good for Matt. “Sometimes, you won’t be ball dominant and that is where he has to be able also to get a bit more intensity into his play against the ball.
“Right now though he is doing very well.”
