There are four Celtic stars playing in the World Cup finals in Qatar and so far all have a good chance to progress through to the next round after the group stages. One of them has been shining for his national team lately, and just delivered a man of the match performance for his country.
Daizen Maeda played his part in Japan’s iconic win over Germany, Josip Juranovic played his part in Croatia’s 0-0 draw against Morocco and Cameron Carter-Vickers is yet to get some game time for the United States, spending both games on the bench, but will be delighted with their draw and performance against England.
Some Celtic fans may even view Canada’s Alistair Johnston as a fifth player at the World Cup, with the defender expected to join the Glasgow giants soon.
But it’s Aaron Mooy who is grabbing the headlines with Australia. His side were beaten by France in their opening game, as was always likely. But they turned things around against Tunisia on Saturday with a 1-0 win and gained three valuable group points. It was the Socceroos’ first World Cup win since they beat Serbia in 2010. The BBC went on to name the Celtic midfielder as their player of the match.
Celtic star proving critics wrong and Ange Postecoglou right at World Cup
Mooy hadn’t been playing regular club football when he signed for the Hoops in the summer, hoping to bring his career back on track.
That’s taken time to do but he’s built up from substitute appearances at the start of the season to playing full 90 minutes in a run of matches in October. In addition to league matches he has also had time on the pitch against RB Leipzig, Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.
As his fitness and form has improved, Mooy has been impressing the Celtic fans and underlining his value to the squad. His place in Qatar with the Socceroos was probably never in doubt, but his Parkhead experience has definitely helped him reach peak levels for the tournament.
After the recent results, Australia only need a draw from their final group game against Denmark, to qualify for the last 16. That still won’t be easy but it is still more than most people would have expected.