When Auston Trusty stands tall with eyes towards the horizon, he can see it glittering with possibilities.
In June, a home World Cup, the culmination of all he has dreamed of and a catalyst to launch the beautiful game into a totally different orbit in the United States. Before then a hunt for silver with Celtic. First the culmination of Scotland’s most exciting title race in years, followed by the Scottish Cup final against Dunfermline.
‘Winning trophies,’ says Trusty when asked what defines success at Parkhead this season, as his side battle old rivals Rangers and new upstarts Hearts for the title. With four games to go it is Hearts who lead the way by three points from Martin O’Neill’s Celtic and four from Rangers, looking to be the first non-Old Firm team to win the title since Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen 41 years ago.
‘We’ve had some ups and downs, and it’s led us into this race to finish in first and win another cup. Historically, this club has been dominant, with so many highs. There have been years when Celtic would have won the league title by now, so it’s not the position we want to be in but we’re here now, in an interesting space and it keeps everyone sharp and fighting for a cause, to really go for it.
‘Unfortunately, with football there comes ebb and flow. We’ve had a bit of a down period, but you bounce back. We came together in the tough times. We became a stronger team mentally.
‘Sometimes that can be what you need and now there’s a chance to give fans something to cheer about. We can try to make up for our mistakes this year by winning two trophies.’
When Auston Trusty stands tall with eyes towards the horizon he can see it glittering with possibilities
A home World Cup beckons this summer with the United States, for whom he has made six appearances
As these glittering targets sharpen in focus for the 27-year-old centre back, it is difficult to resist a glance back at a remarkable journey from the days he risked ridicule by chasing the round ball around his hometown of Media, 13 miles west of Philadelphia.
‘Soccer wasn’t really the thing to do,’ Trusty tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘People would make fun of me. I grew up in a sporty neighbourhood and was really good at sports and everyone knew me for that, but I didn’t share that I played soccer because I didn’t want to be made fun of.
‘If I suggested (to play), they’d be like “What? Like, why would we ever play soccer? We’re gonna play American football or we’re gonna play basketball or we’re gonna play any game we can make up except for soccer”. So in my spare time, I’d sit searching up clips on YouTube of Ronaldinho and just try to mimic it.’
Trusty is the youngest of six, all high-achieving athletes, and spent his early years being dragged from college track meetings to basketball games to lacrosse practice.
He struck a training deal with one of his three brothers – half an hour playing soccer for half an hour playing lacrosse – but it was sister Onnie, a USA youth international, who got him into the game where he would make his name.
‘It’s a weird thing, and I think it’s really cool,’ Trusty says. ‘I don’t really hear of many male footballers who’ve fallen in love with the game through their sister.
‘She had a full ride scholarship (free tuition and accommodation) to college at Florida State University and I used to say, “Where’s Onnie?” and she’d be in Paris. Or she’s here or there, travelling the world. And I’m like, “This girl’s killing it”. Just let me just focus on what she’s doing. I absorbed everything and then I fell in love with soccer, watching her play.
‘I was a forward until I was 16 but I always knew deep down I was a centre back because my sister was a centre back, and my favorite number is three. One because of (basketball star) Allen Iverson, but also because my sister wore three.’
‘I was a forward until I was 16 but I always knew deep down I was a centre back because my sister was a centre back’
Trusty has gone from hiding his abilities in his hometown to the white-hot cauldron of the Old Firm, playing 32 times this season for Celtic
Iverson would have a safe seat on Philadelphia sports’ Mount Rushmore, a star for the 76ers at the turn of the century nicknamed ‘The Answer’. Trusty counts him together with NBA legends Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan among his sporting heroes.
But his own career was rising when the USA were making an impact at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and Landon Donovan’s 91st-minute winner to beat Algeria to finish above England in Group C and seal a place in the last 16 is seared into his mind.
His route from Philly to the searing cauldron of Glasgow’s Old Firm is unlikely enough but enhanced by quirks of fortune and moments when he almost turned his back on football. Philadelphia Union, an MLS franchise founded in 2008, launched their academy at just the right time. Trusty heard they were holding youth trials from a friend at Boy Scouts. They both went along. Trusty made it in. His friend did not.
From there, he was the last player selected from the Union Juniors programme to trial for the academy.
‘I was one step from walking out the door,’ recalls Trusty. ‘A couple more steps and I probably would have stopped playing soccer and focused on something else, maybe baseball, American football or basketball. That one little moment, literally a tap on my shoulder, meant the world to me, and it obviously changed so much.’
Despite the late reprieve, he did not play for a single minute for the Under 16s in his first season. Again, he feared the worst, only to be rescued on this occasion by Iain Munro, a former Scotland defender who ruled over Union’s youth development programme.
‘From what I’ve heard I was on the cut list,’ says Trusty. ‘Then Iain Munro, who kind of ran the place, went into the meeting and said, “Guys, what are you doing here?”. When they said they were deciding who to cut, he took the list, grabbed my name, said, “You’re not cutting him” and put me on the keep list.’
By the end of his second year, Trusty was captain for the USA at the Under-17s World Cup in a team that also included Christian Pulisic of AC Milan, Bournemouth’s Tyler Adams and Coventry’s Haji Wright. They opened with a defeat against Nigeria, the eventual champions who were fired to glory by 10-goal centre forward Victor Osimhen.
Landon Donovan’s 91st-minute winner for the US against Algeria to take them into the last 16 of the 2010 World Cup was a seminal moment for Trusty
After impressing in the Philadelphia Union setup, Trusty got a move to Stan Kroenke’s Colorado Rapids
From there, Trusty did not look back. He rejected a full scholarship at the University of North Carolina – his hero Jordan’s alma mater – to sign a pro deal with the Union at 17 and quickly broke into the first team.
He joined Colorado Rapids, an MLS team owned by Stan Kroenke, helped them win the Western Conference and clinched a move to Kroenke’s other club Arsenal, where a tirade in pre-season by Mikel Arteta lives on as a reminder of the levels required to exist among Europe’s elite.
‘We literally just beat the MLS All Stars 5-0 and he was angry at us,’ says Trusty. ‘Basically, he didn’t think that we were trying, or not enough. I was so taken aback by what he was like.
‘So that’s the level. That’s the mindset. That’s where some of us weren’t really switched on. That’s why these guys are such high-calibre players. That’s where they are mentally and physically. That’s where their level is. That’s where their minds are. Many people would be happy with 5-0 in pre-season but that’s not the level of potentially winning the Premier League or the Champions League.’
Trusty spent his first year in English football on loan at Birmingham City in the Championship where he won Player of the Season, and left Arsenal in 2023 for Sheffield United, then in the Premier League.
At almost 25, he was looking for regular football to accelerate his international ambitions, but it turned into a difficult season and ended in relegation.
‘I played in seven different positions,’ he says of a year at Bramall Lane. ‘In a back four, I played left back, left centre back and right centre back. And in a back five, I played as the left wing back, left centre back, middle centre back and right centre back.’
Now in his second season in Glasgow, Trusty agrees he is playing as well as he has in his life. ‘This is the most confident I’ve been,’ he says. ‘Physically, mentally, spiritually, I feel I’m entering my prime where I understand and see the game.
Arsenal bought Trusty (left) from their sister club Colorado in 2022 and he spent his first season out on loan at Birmingham City
Trusty joined the club’s Stateside tour in 2023 and particularly remembers one Mikel Arteta hairdryer after a game Arsenal won 5-0 against the MLS All-Stars XI
Later that summer he was shipped off to Sheffield United and suffered relegation from the Premier League while playing in a mind-boggling range of positions
‘I feel confident I can execute on my understanding of the game and playing at the highest level gets you to that. The experiences of the highs and the lows.
‘Coming here and developing so many facets of my game, also developing the Celtic mentality, where you go out win trophies and you go out to win every single game and you’re always pushing for more.
‘I’m in a really good place going into my prime. I still want to grow and get better and better but I feel I’m in the best position mentally and physically that I’ve been in my entire career.’
Trusty’s Celtic form has earned him a USA recall and he impressed against Portugal in March, the final friendly before boss Mauricio Pochettino selects his squad for the World Cup, where Paraguay, Australia and Turkey are their opponents in Group D.
‘It can be a catalyst,’ he says. ‘Young people need moments to latch onto whether it’s a player or a team and it will spark young minds to play football. I hope it’s an opportunity for millions of people to truly fall in love with such a beautiful game. Football is the sport that connects the entire world.’
The sport is already far beyond where it was in 1994 when the USA hosted the World Cup, inspired by the evolution and expansion of MLS and the influx of icons such as Lionel Messi.
‘I see the Messi Inter Miami jerseys everywhere,’ says Trusty. ‘That’s the brilliant thing about him being in the United States. Everyone knows he’s there. And he’s cool.
‘The young kids in the States want to feel cool. Wearing a LeBron James jersey is cool. Wearing a Michael Jordan jersey or sneakers is cool. If you’re wearing a Lionel Messi jersey you really know your stuff and you’re cool.
Trusty’s Celtic form has won him his place back in the United States setup under Mauricio Pochettino
The arrival of Lionel Messi in MLS has been a huge boon for soccer in the States
It could be a huge year in Trusty’s life, with two trophies still available for Celtic
‘It’s changing in the schools where soccer is more acceptable. And you see a lot of the streaming now influenced by soccer with iShowSpeed and Cristiano Ronaldo. Add the World Cup and there’s going to be a big change in America very soon.’
On a personal level it is no less exciting for an American who sailed against the tide to follow his dreams.
‘These are the moments you live for,’ says Trusty. ‘Every decision I’ve ever made in football has been made with a view to being that guy in the World Cup with the national team.
‘It would mean absolutely everything to me. And to a lot of other guys. That’s a great position for the team to be in because a team that truly cares can go far in the competition.’
