It’s been a hell of a time for Shaun Maloney, linked one minute with a return to Celtic as part of a new coaching regime and then linked the next with a move to Barcelona as part of a management set-up headed by his friend and mentor, Roberto Martinez.

On Sunday, Maloney, 47 caps for Scotland and a serial trophy winner with Celtic, will be where he has been for the past three years – at Martinez’s side. Belgium are attempting to overcome holders Portugal in the last 16 of Euro 2020 and the little Scot is an integral part of the backroom plot to bring down Cristiano Ronaldo and chums.

What a game this could be. Belgium won three out of three in their group and Portugal just about stumbled through theirs. Belgium have not beaten Portugal in five attempts dating back to the BC era (Before Cristiano), though.

Ronaldo has played against them twice, scoring twice in the first encounter in 2007 and scoring again in the second in 2016. This is the match that could light up the last 16.

As a player, Maloney tried and failed to make it to a major championship, but here he is in a different guise in the business end of the tournament.

He says that he became emotional when Scotland finally qualified to play on the big stage for the first time in 23 years, almost being reduced to tears by that dramatic penalty shootout against Serbia. The Scots are now out, of course. The nation has only one man left standing.

“Look, we’ve got a chance,” he says, by way of an understatement. “We’ve got an amazing team, our players are at an amazing level, so yeah, why not? Let’s see what happens.

“There is pressure, but it doesn’t ever feel like that in the camp. I absolutely understand why there is that level of expectancy. It’s because of the players we have. But it feels more like a supportive pressure rather than the opposite. That’s the feeling I get. It’s a good pressure.

“The players have to do media, they have to do certain things. They might get asked different things, but the feeling I get from everybody is supportive.”

‘I want to deliver something at the elite level’

Everybody who knew Maloney in his playing days, which came to an end in 2017, would have bet the house on him getting involved in coaching. He was a sponge for new ideas, he read voraciously, he studied the methods of some of the most interesting football minds.

Maloney and Martinez go back to their days together at Wigan Athletic, the older man bringing in what he called an “elite brain” to work with the all-star cast in his ranks. Maloney’s an intelligent man with a thirst for knowledge and a work ethic that has endeared him to the superstars in the Belgium set-up.

In the beginning, he had to win them over, but there was never any doubt about his capacity to do it. He went around Europe to build relationships with them, from Spain to Germany, from Italy to England and beyond. One trophy-laden player after another, one massive club after another. He relished the challenge.

“The level of player is high, so I don’t see it as pressure,” he says. “I just feel like it’s a motivating factor that we have players at such an elite level. I want to deliver something that is at that level. That’s what drives me on.

“It sounds easy to say, but I just assist Roberto on the pitch. The main tactical part of the session will be led by Roberto and there’ll be different technical things before or after it that I will take or will jointly take.

“I’d say 60% of a session will be Roberto. He’ll lead the tactical stuff and the rest of it will be taken by myself and a few others.”

The calibre of player he’s dealing with is, of course, extraordinary and exhilarating. “Outstanding talents and absolutely terrific people,” he says before listing the magnitude of their achievements at club level.

Thibaut Courtois in goal – a La Liga title with Atletico Madrid, another La Liga title with Real Madrid and three Premier League medals with Chelsea.

Eden Hazard – a league title with Lille, two more with Chelsea, another with Real Madrid. Kevin de Bruyne – three Premier League titles with Manchester City. Romelu Lukaku – one league championship with Anderlecht and a second with Inter Milan. Axel Witsel – a Russian league winner. Thomas Vermaelen – four La Ligas and one Champions League with Barcelona.

These guys are dripping with silver. Domestic, European, individual and collective. It’s an astonishing array of honours. Maloney has a tonne of trophies from his time at Celtic – and an FA Cup win with Wigan – but this is different gravy.

“This is the elite of the elite,” he says. “It’s a privilege to work them. Kevin is the best player in his position in the world, I would argue. So many of them have done incredible things with their clubs in all different countries, but the hunger to win something for Belgium is enormous.”

‘We have big personalities, and we’ll need them’

There are 1,384 caps in this Belgian side and 249 goals. The top two all-time Belgium goalscorers are in this squad – Lukaku with 63 in 96 games, Hazard with 32 in 110.

Six of Belgium’s top seven all-time caps-winners are also in this squad. Five of them have 100 or more caps. Four more have 80-plus. They come from Real Madrid and Spurs, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City, Inter Milan and Napoli. Between them, they’ve won every prize from the big leagues, every trophy worth winning in Europe and some world club championships to boot.

Their ambition has not yet been fulfilled at national level, though. Maloney is one of them now. In these weeks, he is as much Belgian as he is Scottish. Perhaps more so.

“Everybody talks about Kevin and Eden and Romelu and the attacking players, but we have outstanding defenders, big personalities, and we’ll need them,” he says. “Nobody ever won anything by just having the best forwards. It’s an all-round team you need.”

Watch out for Maloney on Sunday. He’ll be the diminutive character in the background, watching everything like a hawk, as cool as a breeze in the midst of the maelstrom. A little bit of Scotland still at the heart of the action.

Sourced From BBC