Phil Foden’s old England teammate scores audacious penalty in front of Gareth Southgate but won’t play for Three Lions

Matt O’Riley once played for England Under-18s and now he’s impressing ahead of Gareth Southgate – but he may never play for him.

The Celtic midfielder stepped up when the pressure was on in the Old Firm derby by putting his side 2-0 up against Rangers in their thrilling 3-3 draw.

After a Connor Goldson handball in the box, a Hoops penalty was awarded by VAR and O’Riley took the penalty.

In a packed Ibrox with no away fans, he kept his cool and boldly drove past Jack Butland.

He walked away celebrating just moments after the cameras showed England manager Southgate in the stands.

And if things had gone differently, O’Riley could very well have forced his way into their Euro 2024 squad.

The 23-year-old has caps for the Three Lions at youth level, playing alongside Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho and Oliver Skipp for the under-16s, before turning out for the under-18s.

However, in 2022, he moved to Denmark, which he was able to do thanks to his mother’s side of the family.

And it was when England faced the Danes at Euro 2020 that he fully realized that he wanted to play for his mother nation.

O’Riley told bold.dk: “Before the match I didn’t know who to support. But when Mikkel Damsgaard scored the free-kick I went absolutely crazy.

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“That’s when I really discovered that maybe I was a little more Danish, because I was partying with my mother, who I was watching the game with.

“My father was sitting in another room of the house, but he too came running and applauded us.

“And he’s even perfectly English, so I asked him: ‘What are you doing?'”

O’Riley would make his first-team debut for the Danes in 2023 and he has made two full caps.

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Of his time in the England youth teams, O’Riley’s former mentor Dan Micchice told the Herald: “When I had Matt at under-16 level with England, these young people all had potential.

“Realizing that potential is another thing entirely. In our England squad he was alongside Jayden Sancho and Phil Foden and he more than held his own in that exalted company.

“I remember a game Matt played against the Netherlands in France and he was absolutely outstanding. He was in midfield alongside Oliver Skipp who is now at Tottenham as well as Callum Hudson-Odoi. Foden was on the right and Sancho on the left and Matt controlled the game.”

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One more outing for Denmark will apparently prevent O’Riley from changing countries again, like Declan Rice.

The fine print of FIFA’s Commentary on the rules governing eligibility to play for representative teams, published in January 2021, denies any distinction between friendly and competitive matches.

Clause IV of Article 9, Section C states that a change of association will only be granted if a player has been “fielded in not more than three matches in an official competition or an unofficial competition”, this is i.e. friendly matches.

The former Fulham midfielder has 12 goals and 11 assists in 30 games in the Scottish Premiership this season.

And that followed another 11 assists and three goals last campaign.

His form has seen him linked with a move to Atletico Madrid with Diego Simeone reportedly making a bid for him last summer.

The Celtic star has been making headlines and it has led to questions about his nationality given his name and the fact he started his career at Craven Cottage.

But unfortunately for Southgate, who would have been happy with what he saw, O’Riley will not be eligible for England.

The Three Lions boss was in attendance at Ibrox, presumably assessing Jack Butland as he surveys the Old Firm.

However, Butland conceded inside 21 seconds before awarding O’Riley’s penalty before Rangers completed a thrilling comeback in a 3-3 draw.