'I'll try not to cry' - Emotional Auston Trusty dedicates USMNT goal to his father

Cetic star Auston Trusty made an emotional return to action and scored upon his return following the death of his father.

The centre-back has spent a couple of weeks away from the game after his father lost a long battle with illness in late October. Celtic boss Martin O'Neill vowed to give Trusty as much time off as he needed, granting him special leave to attend the celebration of his father's life in the US.

But Trusty returned to action for his country on Saturday and it must have been an emotional return for him, to represent his country in his first game back.

The occasion only got more emotional when Trusty scored the opening goal after 10 minutes against Haiti in the CONCACAF Nations League. USMNT ended up winning 6-0 away from home.

In their player ratings, NBC Sports gave Trusty a 7.5 and reasoned: "Feel-good story of the day as the Celtic man scores in first USMNT match since passing of his father. Continues to make claim to spot next to Richards."

Trusty was understandably emotional after the game, saying: “I’ll try not to cry. My dad passed away not too long ago, so to come out here and win, and this is my first time playing the game since he passed. So I dedicate the goal to him. I dedicate this performance to him. He’s my idol and really helped me throughout my journey.”

This is going to be an interesting time for USMNT, who are preparing to say goodbye to manager Mauricio Pochettino, who has been well liked by the team. Pochettino has agreed to take the Manchester United job after this window.

Trusty said of Pochettino's departure: “We played for him. Obviously, he's our gaffer. Obviously, it's sad that he's moving on. It's a great opportunity that he's moving on to. But we played for him. It's his team. It's his identity, and the mindset is to win every single game, every single match.”

Pochettino himself added: “I think we have an amazing future, brilliant future in this country with the national team." He added on the response of his players to the news: “They were very, very professional from the day one when they started to see all the rumors and then when we confirmed it a few days ago.”

Trusty has been an important player under Pochettino and will want to remain a key player under whoever the next boss is going to be.