Camilo Duran on his international debut and hopes for Kasper Hogh double act

Celtic striker Camilo Duran has spoke of his joy at being called up for the Colombian national team, something he’s dreamed of since he’s been a young child.

Duran, who scored Celtic’s opener in the 2-0 win over Motherwell at Fir Park yesterday afternoon said: “I was really happy to make my debut for the national team. It had been a dream of mine since I was a kid. Hopefully I can now go on to make many more appearances for my country.

“My idols back then were James Rodriguez and Luis Diaz. Luis was rested for the two games I played in last week. But he should be back for the next window when we play Chile home and away.”

Duran now says that his main goal is to play at the highest level possible for Celtic, which should hopefully lead to more call ups to the national side.

“My goal now is to play for Celtic at a high level and perform the way I have been. Hopefully that will lead to more call-ups.

I do think moving to Celtic in the summer was a big factor. Obviously I’m now playing in a new league with a really big club. If I put in performances and do things the right way here, it will definitely help my chances of winning more caps.”

Duran also spoke of how his new colleagues and everyone involved at the club had gave him a warm welcome to the club, which will have helped him massively in settling in to his new surroundings.

The Celtic striker said: “Ever since I arrived, everyone has welcomed me – the players, the staff, everyone here at Lennoxtown.

“I feel really at home here, and so do my family. I hope we can achieve great things together on the pitch. I am really happy,” Duran stated, as reported by Daily Record.

He added: “Learning English is quite challenging but it’s happening little by little. I’ll be speaking it soon – hopefully!”

The Colombian also says that he and Kasper Hogh are capable of playing together, and reckons he and the Denmark international striker have the ingredients to form a terrific partnership.

He said: “We can definitely play together. I’ll play wherever the manager wants me to play – on the wing, as a striker, as a No.10. I can definitely play up top with Kasper. He is a great player with some great traits.

“There are goals in him and, of course, it’s a possibility we can play together.”

I mentioned yesterday before the game at Motherwell that Kasper Hogh is in desperate need of a goal to kickstart his first season at Celtic. That was also a point Martin O’Neill made in his post match comments to the mainstream media. Great minds and all that! Okay maybe not…

Camilo also admitted that he was delighted that Martin O’Neill decided to remain as Celtic manager after his recent period of reflection following this three painful defeats before the international break.

“I’m delighted the manager is still here,” Duran admitted. “Since I arrived at Celtic, he has received me in the best possible way. He has given me confidence. “Hopefully Sunday can be the start of getting out of this difficult period. It was a really tough week losing the three games – really, really tough.

“We now need to pick ourselves up and give a proper response. It is a big game and we need to be fully focused.”