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- Defender thriving under pressure of elite European competition
- Former Arsenal player believes in his ability to compete at highest level
- Celtic center back appreciates path from MLS to Champions League
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U.S. international Auston Trusty says he’s loved every second of Champions League football since joining Celtic from Sheffield United in August 2024. The 26-year-old American defender believes his time in the Premier League and Championship prepared him well for facing top-tier opposition.
“I love every second. I mean I back myself against any player really,” Trusty said on the Vamos podcast with Herculez Gomez. “Come out here playing the Premier League, now playing in the Champions League, you have to have your ability, you have to have the ability to back yourself mentally as well. Any chance I get to play with these guys and to play against these historic teams, I always go back to me as a little kid growing up, and just like this was not even reality, really!
“Like this was this wasn’t even like possible for me to be here, living my dream day in day out be where I am at, where I’m at mentally and also physically, and it goes like wise as a player. I’m just, I’m living my life. I’m living my dream, man.”
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Trusty shared that the confidence in his abilities has been there since he was a little kid, just starting to play football, and while he’s been through ups and downs, he continues to back himself.
“I don’t think it starts there,” Trusty explained. “I think it started since I was a little kid, all the opportunities…There are plenty of ups and downs. And I think through those moments through those times, I’ve slowly layered by layer of the layer, backing myself and showing myself my ability.”
Trusty wasn’t included on the U.S. men’s national team roster for the 2025 Gold Cup, but the Celtic center-back has remained supportive of the program and believes the tournament was a valuable learning experience for the group.
Trusty further touched upon the USMNT’s Gold Cup summer and believes that while the team initially had a tough run, he thinks that they’ve learnt a lot and that the blocks are in place.
“Obviously, I would love to go and represent the country,” Trusty said. “That’s my entire dream. Any call up I can get, I’ll be eager to take full advantage…I back coach back the team and obviously, you had some bad results. No one wants these results, but I think the team is just learning.
He added, “Some of those guys were key guys who have been on the team in the past, and they brought in some new people. So we’re just finding our way, but I think we do have time. I think on the outside, it seems like, ‘oh, what’s going on?’ But I think Poch really has a good idea what’s going to happen, and he’s still like building the blocks, but I think we’re in a good spot.”
The center back also praised Pochettino for the tactical knowledge he’s brought to the setup, reflecting on his own experience in early camps under the Argentine.
“He called me in the first couple of camps, it was great, they were great. And I haven’t had too much conversations [or been] in touch since then, but it’s all good standing…I think the coaches have been really good and obviously they’re highly qualified and experienced too,” he said. “Poch is an extremely experienced coach, so you know he knows what he’s talking about, so to be in those environments, to put yourself in that environment to maybe adapt to doing certain things or do things, maybe, maybe you’re not used to doing, it only benefits yourself. So I’ve only looked at that in a really positive way.”
Trusty signed for Celtic in the summer of 2024 and has since made 38 appearances for The Bhoys scoring one goal and winning the Scottish Championship as well as the Scottish League Cup in his debut season. Not only that, he has earned four caps for the USMNT, making his debut in March 2023, with his last cap coming in November 2024.
Celtic’s Champions League campaign provides Trusty with continued opportunities to establish himself at the elite level of European competition. The defender is currently a part of the club’s preseason activities as he prepares himself for the 2025-26 season.
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