The job of the individual who selects the music to match the mood inside a football ground isn’t always as easy as people make it out to be.
In seeking to link pop culture with the beautiful game, you can easily go too early and risk a rift being rammed back down your throat by opposing fans if favourable first impressions prove unreliable.
We can safely assume that that won’t be happening in the case of Celtic and Camilo Duran.
At full-time on Wednesday night, the track of choice was Hungry Like the Wolf. By the time this season is out, the entire back catalogue of a certain band from the 1980s might well get an airing.
The Colombian’s display against LASK was nothing short of scintillating. Had his night’s work consisted only of the two outrageous strikes he planted in the Austrians’ net, he’d have been due every inch of praise that came his way.
Camilo Duran is the new darling of the Celtic support after his brilliant double against LASK
But there was so much more to admire. A velvet first touch, the pace and stealth to evade tackles, the intelligent ball retention, the calmness under pressure.
As much as anything, though, it was his willingness to bust a gut for the common good which brought every Celtic supporter off their seats when he trudged off seven minutes from time. Maeda-esque, you might say.
Even as he played down the significance of establishing a three-goal advantage ahead of the second leg, Martin O’Neill could hardly have been more effusive in his praise for the player’s contribution.
‘He was magnificent,’ he said. ‘I’m not saying he’s world class at this minute, but that was a world-class performance from him.
‘I mean that in every sense – the goals, his attacking play and his work in getting back to defend.’
It’s worth remembering that Duran hasn’t yet played in his preferred position in a competitive game.
Camilo Duran fires home the first of his two goals against LASK
He’s been deployed on the right-flank because Haissem Hassan isn’t yet up to speed. If that’s how effective he is as a square peg being pushed into a round hole, heaven knows what havoc he’ll reek when he’s playing off Kasper Hogh.
His performances to date in a Celtic jersey have debunked one myth. That the club doesn’t have the wherewithal to buy Champions League ready players.
Duran starred in the competition for Qarabag last season and managed five goals. Celtic moved in and bought him for an initial £4.5m rising to £6m.. Already, that looks like an act of grand larceny.
The story of his career to date debunks another. That the days of top-class talents going undetected through forensic level scouting and data analytics are over. Duran has demonstrated that they are still hidden gems out there which Europe’s behemoths have overlooked – if you’re smart enough to unearth them.
The 24-year-old hasn’t so much as taken the B road to the cusp of the Champions League as an unmapped dust track.
He started out at Independiente Medellin in his homeland where he idolised his compatriots, Luis Diaz and James Rodriguez.
To try and turbo-charge his development, he moved on loan to Flamengo in 2021, but the Brazilian club didn’t take up their option to buy.
Four years ago, frustrated at a lack of opportunities in South America, he moved to Terceira, a volcanic island in Azores west of the Portuguese mainland, to sign for little known SC Lusitania.
Striker Camilo Duran joined Celtic for just £4.5m from Qarabag
Incredibly, he plied is trade in Portugal’s District Leagues, effectively the fifth tier of football. Campo de Jogos, their spartan home, boasts a capacity of just 1,100.
Having torn it up in his first season, scoring 19 goals in 20 games, he secured a move to Estrela da Amadora, a side based near Lisbon and then in the top division.
But with the door to the first team shut there too, he returned to Lusitania and helped them climb into Liga 3.
It was only two years ago that he signed for second tier outfit Portimonense – then managed by Riccardo Pessoa, his old boss on Terceira.
He had ‘quality outside the normal’, said Pessoa, remarking that Duran was technically ‘much superior’ to the standard of player even seen in Portugal’s top flight.
Benfica, Porto or Sporting Lisbon could have had him for a song. Instead, Qarabag of the Azerbaijani Premier League paid £200,000 a year back.
Duran scored 15 in 44 games including those five in the Champions League. Celtic’s advances were initially rebuffed, but a deal was eventually struck for him to become the first Colombian to wear the jersey.
You can only imagine that those struggles for recognition were flashing through his mind as he sampled the electric atmosphere inside Celtic Park on a European night.
“It wasn’t easy leaving family behind in Colombia,’ he reflected. ‘I even left my partner behind for a while. But I had to show dedication.’
Partner Valentina and their daughter Emily are now with him in Glasgow and you suspect that they are going to get used to Duran’s status as a new hero of the Celtic support.
But his was just one of many supreme displays as O’Neill’s side recovered from a shaky start against the Austrians to build an enviable lead in the tie.
Celtic were outstanding going forward, helped – in no small part – by the four summer signings who’ve arrived for a combined £30m.
Mika Baur glided around the midfield, passing and probing on his home debut.. Hogh linked the play with intelligent touches. Hassan helped to run the clock down.
The improvement in many players who were at the club last season is also plain.
Duran scores for Qarabag against Newcastle in last season’s Champions League
Benjamin Nygren now has the all-round game to go with the torrent of goals he routinely provides. His screamer to break the deadlock was his fourth of the campaign.
Hyun-jun Yang is an entirely different proposition to the erratic winger that first took to this stage.
Kieran Tierney is starting to reprise the form which made him a £25m Arsenal player, while Callum McGregor looks refreshed and refocused.
Had it not been for Duran’s contribution, Colby Donovan would have walked off with the man of the match award. With new Scotland manager Sebastien Pocognoli in attendance, the 19-year-old full-back delivered a career best display under immense pressure.
The fact that Viljami Sinisalo stepped up and delivered a clean sheet will have pleased his manager no end. Not so much the fact that the Finn was called into action so often.
Celtic were wide open at times. LASK were a fine side, but their finishing repeatedly let them down.
O’Neill’s men will need to far more conservative in their approach on Tuesday if the return leg isn’t to become a nervous affair. Come what may, the acquisition of a holding midfielder such as Hajduk Split’s Niko Sigur is a necessity.
Even without having to chase the game, you’d fancy Celtic to score the goal which should remove all doubt as to the outcome.
They’ve managed 13 already in four matches – a sharp contrast to their struggles last term which culminated in a humiliation at the hands of Kairat Almaty.
Back then, the noise surrounding the entire club was acrimonious. The soundtrack now is decidedly more upbeat.
