Auston Trusty: This is what dreams are made of

Such is the draw and magnetism of the UEFA Champions League, the dreams of playing in the competition are not confined to Europe. All around the world, be that Africa, Asia, Australasia or North, Central and South America, youngsters hopeful of making the grade in the game see playing in the UCL as the utmost in competitive football. And a young Auston Trusty growing up 3,000 miles away across the Atlantic was no different to any other football-mad kid anywhere in the world. Since joining the Hoops at the onset of the season, the defender has now played in all eight of Celtic’s UCL games so far – half of those in the cauldron of Paradise under the lights on a European night – and even that sort of atmosphere and expectation is bound to be ramped up further on Wednesday night when Bayern Munich come to town. The American Celt said of his feeling for the upcoming game: “It’s definitely up there. As a little kid growing up in Media, Pennsylvania, I would think you were lying. “So for me to have this opportunity to be here playing for Celtic, and to be playing Bayern Munich at Celtic Park tomorrow with the fans and the amazing environment and all that, it’s what dreams are made of – and I could only have dreamt of it as a little kid.” He added: “I can assume that tomorrow night is going to be even crazier than what it has been. It’s honestly just a dream come true. ‘Growing up in the States you hear the stories about Celtic Park, but you don’t really understand ‘til you’re here.’ “So when I’m out on the pitch and you just hear the theme song playing and everyone is just screaming, it’s just amazing. “It really gets you right up for the game and you just want to give your all for everybody, so the fans do play a huge part and it’s nice to have them behind us when we’re at the stadium. “We’re all really excited. It’s a great opportunity not only for the club, but also us individually and us as a collective. “It’s the same mentality we’ve had, it’s the Celtic way in how we approach things. When I first walked in the door you could really feel how the guys approached things and how the organisation approaches the game and everything in between. “The mentality is not changing, we are just playing our game.”Manager Brendan Rodgers has been delighted with the progress and improvement made by his group of players, especially on the European front, and the players themselves have been reaping the rewards of the development. Trusty said: “I think it’s just backing ourselves when you play certain teams. “When you’re in this competition, and it’s the best club competition in the entire world, so when you’re given the opportunity to play against the best players in the entire world, and you can back yourself or you can show yourself and show to your team. “And as a team you can show to yourselves that, ‘We can play here, this is good and we can thrive and we can win games’. So I think as a team and individually, it just makes you back yourself more. “We’re at home and I think we’ve shown to each other that we back ourselves and we can actually go out there and get a result. “There’s no reason to play with fear, we have nothing to lose – the only thing is to gain. “And if we go out there and do our thing, I think we truly believe that we can get a result that’s in our favour.” Watch the full video to hear Auston Trusty on: Beating Bayern Playing against Harry Kane Coping with Daizen Maeda in training Partnership with Cameron Carter-Vickers Team’s reaction to the Dortmund game Approaching the game the Celtic way Reaction to the Superbowl More on the match Manager: We’re ready to perform on this European stage –