DOUBLE winner Liam Scales is looking forward to capping off a fine season by sharing a pitch with Ronaldo.
Scales’ time at Celtic looked up before a spate of injuries saw him given his chance by Brendan Rodgers.
And the Arklow man grabbed his opportunity with both hands, helping his club complete a League and Cup double.
His performances earned him a new long-term contract and his first four Ireland caps and is hoping to get his fifth against Portugal tonight.
And he hopes to get close enough to Ronaldo to not only stop him but to get a photo of himself tussling with the highest goal-scorer in international football.
Scales said: “I am not a United fan but I like Ronaldo, the career he’s had, I don’t need to say how good he is, hopefully I get to play against him.
“He is probably the best goalscorer of all time, you don’t lose that knack, he might have slowed down a bit but you can see the shape he’s in, he can still score goals and we will have to be completely ready for him at his best.
“I want to play against him, I don’t know about the rest of the lads but it’s one of those, you can say at the end of your career that you played against him.
“Hopefully one of the photographers gets a photo of me standing next to him. It’s the challenge to see what he’s like, we have seen it but to feel it by playing against him would be great.”
As for his most high-profile opponents to date, he said: “There was a few from Holland, Virgin Van Dijk and then Antoine Griezmann in the Champions League.”
Scales played every minute of Celtic’s six group stage matches – from which they took just three points – against Atletico Madrid, Lazio and Feyenoord.
And he is hoping for a better European campaign next season to build on their domestic dominance.
Scales said: “Definitely, I see there’s a new format in the Champions League this season and I am looking forward to that.
“That was my first taste of Champions League football and it would have been the same for a lot of the players so hopefully we’ll be a bit more experienced next season. That will help us.”
It remains to be seen whether Adam Idah will be there to help out after a successful loan spell with the striker admitting he expects to report back for pre-season with Norwich City, his parent club.
But Scales admitted he would be chuffed to see the Cork man stay on in Glasgow after he won over the doubters who were underwhelmed by his arrival in January.
Scales said: “That’s the case with Celtic fans a lot of the time, it doesn’t reflect on Adam at all, they just have this high standard and I don’t think it bothered Adam.
“He is just that sort of character that if, it goes well and he starts like he did, he will be flying, it’s a testament to his character that he was able to do that and go and have the half season he did.
“He played a massive part in us winning the league and then scoring the winner in the Cup final. I am delighted for him.
“Every Celtic fan, everyone at the club would love to have him back, he was outstanding but a lot of things have to go right for that to happen but hopefully it does.”
SCALING HEIGHTS
The 25-year-old – who joined from Shamrock Rovers in August 2021 – is well-used to the demands at Celtic Park by now, with his emergence as a regular earning him more recognition.
He said: “Sometimes you will get a bit of stick but it doesn’t really affect you, at the start it can be a bit daunting, but because I had the first season where I played a few times I got to see it more with other players,
“So I knew from the start of this season that this is what it would be like and it didn’t affect me at all.
“I haven’t really had any bad interactions with anyone, Celtic or Rangers, if a Rangers fan sees you they look the other way, maybe it’s because we were winning the league this year,
“It’s been a different year for me, I have kept my head down, you do get noticed a bit more but it’s a good thing.
“It’s a bit of a fishbowl but we are all used to that now, we know what to expect.
“The media over there… in the middle of the season there was a bit of doubt about us, Rangers were favourites to win the league and the media jumped on it,
“It never bothered us, the manager was always focused on us and how we approach winning the league rather than listening to what people outside were saying.
“I just want to go into next year and have the same sort of season, playing regularly and being successful, winning trophies. I have enjoyed almost every minute, it was a great step to cement myself in the team at Celtic.
“I have played in big games, at the highest intensity I have ever played, for a full season, that has improved me a lot but I don’t want to stop, I want to keep going.”
For now, though, the focus is on Ireland with Scales eager to build on his 45-minute performance in the 2-1 win over Hungary last week in which Idah and, in injury time, Troy Parrott scored with the team’s only two efforts on target.
Scales said: “I didn’t realise that was the stat but if we can do that in every game we’ll be doing well.
“I suppose it was a weird game in a way, they had a lot of the ball when I was on the pitch but they didn’t really create much.
“It probably wasn’t that exciting for the neutral but for us to be clinical in front of goal and win the game was brilliant
“It mightn’t have been the most entertaining but it was a success for us, to be compact and in a good shape, we were unlucky not to keep a clean sheet, and clinical when we get the chances to attack.
“Troy probably didn’t expect to play as long as he did, 20 or 25 minutes, he didn’t look tired, he got himself up the pitch and did well to finish the way he did.I am delighted for him.
“And it’s the result people will remember, people will remember that we got a last-minute winner.
“They will remember the goal and the celebrations in the stadium, they won’t really remember what the game was like.
“The last memory people will have is the winner and the game is about winning and, even though it’s a friendly, you never want to lose games.”