Alistair Johnston snubs Lionel Messi as Celtic star sets his focus despite 'exciting' date with superstar
The defender isn't willing to look too far ahead as he looks to bring two trophies to Celtic Park this term.
Alistair Johnston isn’t the type of player to lose his focus. And as Celtic enter the final stretch of their SPFL campaign, his eyes are fixed firmly on the prizes.
A Premiership title and Scottish Cup are still up for grabs and the Canadian has got used to winning since he arrived in Glasgow. So he’s unlikely to get distracted in the run-in. But this time maybe Johnston could be forgiven for letting his mind drift towards the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta this summer. After all, he has the small matter of Lionel Messi and the World Cup holders waiting for him on June 21.
And having never faced the greatest player to walk the earth before in his career, it would be easy for Johnston to get side-tracked. He’ll play for Canada in the opening game of the 2024 Copa America against Argentina in front of 80,000 Messi fanatics. For Johnston – and his whole country – it’s going to be an incredible occasion to kick off the tournament.
And he has been well warned about the difficulty of keeping tabs on Inter Miami’s Argentine icon. Johnston said: “It’s exciting, isn’t it? We’ve got Argentina in the first game, which is great. But I’m kinda hoping Messi stays on the other side of the pitch! The tournament is in America but it will be 99 per cent full of Messi jerseys, so that’ll be fun. It’s the first game of the tournament so I think they’re expecting Messi to put on a show.
“That’s why they’ve made it the first game. And yeah, it’s my job as a defender to hopefully try and quieten that down. But we’ll be ready for 80,000 fans screaming his name.
“I’ve seen it already in the MLS, just how mental it is over there, and it’ll be no different in Atlanta. I have never played against Messi before but I have a couple of friends who have and they say it’s a joy!
“He looks like he’s just walking about on the pitch so you turn your head for a second. You lose the ball, you turn your head back and he’s gone! But that whole Argentina team are extremely talented. You don’t win a World Cup with just one player.”
Canada qualified for the Copa America with a play-off win over Trinidad and Tobago last week. Their reward is what looks like a group of death against Argentina, Chile and Peru.
But for Johnston it’s yet another progressive step for a country where football isn’t the No.1 sport – but which now boasts top players like himself, Bayern Munich superstar Alphonso Davies and Lille striker Jonathan David. The Celtic right-back said: “When you look at our player pool, we should be qualifying for these tournaments.
“We should be one of the top-three teams in our region every year now. But we need to back that up so it’s exciting to reach a Copa America off the back of a World Cup.
“We’re hosting the 2026 World Cup so it’s important to be at tournaments like this. In Canada, football is probably the most played sport in terms of numbers.
“But when you don’t have a massive league in your own back yard or international success, it’s tough. Basketball has risen in the past couple of years with Toronto Raptors winning a championship and there’s ice-hockey too.
“But I think we’re slowly starting to turn heads. Canada is funny – a lot of people will cheer for Italy first then Canada second.
“We have to change that. You’d never see that in Scotland, where people cheer for the team where your grand-parents are from instead of where you have been born and raised. That’s a barrier we definitely have to cross.”
Even if Johnston & Co were to win the Copa America this summer, the 25-year-old still wouldn’t get the kinf of adulation he receives in Glasgow. After being recruited by former Hoops boss Ange Postecoglou, he’s been consistently impressive and is now a key part of Brendan Rodgers ’ side.
And he loves the goldfish bowl environment he’s now in compared to what he’s used to in Canada. Johnston said: “I get recognised more here than in Toronto.
“When I first got here, one of the admin people at Celtic asked me if it was comparable. But as I flew in I realised there probably isn’t a building above five storeys here!
“So it’s a bit different, I’m not sure he knew how big Toronto is. It’s definitely a different feeling here. Even the big hockey players back home get around pretty easily. Glasgow is a different beast, altogether. Here, it’s hilarious because it’s grandmas who point me out.
“I’m like: ‘How do you even know me?’ The passion runs deep here. It’s such a football-driven and football-mad country and city. That’s very different from back home in Canada.”