RETURNING Celtic fans’ favourite Kieran Tierney will celebrate his 29th birthday today with the Scotland international squad preparing for the World Cup Finals in USA, Canada and Mexico which kicks off on Thursday.
The glittering tournament will cap a whirlwind year for the left-sided defender after his Hoops comeback last summer following a six-year interlude at Arsenal who splashed £25million to lure the player to London.
Tierney picked up at Celtic where he left off first time around as he celebrate silverware success in the Premiership and Scottish Cup.
TWO OF A KIND…Kieran Tierney and Callum McGregor celebrate Celtic’s fifth title success following their 3-1 win over Hearts at Parkhead last month.
It brought his Hoops’ trophy haul to 12 over his two stints, comprised of six titles, four Scottish Cups and two League Cups.
Tierney has added scoring crucial goals to his repertoire with six strikes in his comeback campaign.
He fired in his first goal in the 4-0 win over Kilmarnock on November 9 and followed up with another in the 2-1 loss to Hearts at Parkhead on December 7. However, he helped the side to the first of only two wins during Wilfried Nancy’s disastrous 33-day Hoops career with the second in the 3-1 home victory over Aberdeen later in the month.
Tierney then struck two in three days with a header in the 2-2 draw with Danny Rohl’s side at Ibrox on March 1 and then a first-time effort to give Martin O’Neill’s side an early lead in the 2-1 success over the Dons at Pittodrie.
DERBY DELIGHT…Kieran Tierney celebrates heading in Celtic’s first goal in the 2-2 fightback draw at Ibrox in March.
And he repeated the feat in the 3-1 triumph over Falkirk in the east end of Glasgow on April 25 in the victorious run-in to the champions’ fifth successive title.
Tierney also thumped in the vitally-important stoppage-time third goal in the Scots’ 4-2 win over Denmark to seal the nation’s first participation in the World Cup Finals since France 1998.
Steve Clarke’s side will kick off their bid for global glory against Haiti in Boston in the early hours of Sunday June 14 before playing Morocco at the same venue five days later.
Their final group encounter is against former world champions Brazil in Miami late on Wednesday June 24.
Good luck, KT!
IT’S THE BOOK DEAL OF THE YEAR! You can now own a copy of ‘Celtic 50 Flags Plus One’ AND ‘Celtic Treble Treble’ for only £9.95 plus postage. Two stunning Celtic publications and you can save a massive £20! Order now! Just click the image for details and your books will be on their way. Happy reading!
