Plenty of football fans have become bored with the bloated international calendar and what are now usually pretty pointless money spinning friendlies, but in the modern day game the biggest concern for any fan who prioritises the domestic side of life are the curse of injuries – and sadly Celtic now need to deal with the fall out from the issue that Denmark international stopper Kasper Schmeichel has picked up.
With the 38 year old hugely experienced goalkeeper skippering his country in their Nations League game on Monday evening against Portugal, he went down holding his shoulder after a collision with Diogo Jota. It was a collision that should never have happened had it not been for the hugely unreliable Video Assistant Referee technology that seems to require linesmen to keep the flag down even when the offside is clear and obvious, but sadly Schmeichel bore the brunt of it and he has returned to Celtic for treatment in a sling.
For those fans who like a flutter, or even spend their time on the popular growing crown casino online games, you learn to roll with the moves that count against you and manager Brendan Rodgers will definitely have to do that now as some sections of the press are already stating that Schmeichel’s injury is not a minor one, although Danish team doctor Morten Boesen has attempted to calm the concerns surrounding the player following what ultimately became a defeat for them in Lisbon, even though Schmeichel had already saved a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo.
Boesen has gone on the record to say that following x-rays of his left shoulder, whilst the player was ‘clearly in pain’ the images had not shown anything abnormal and he was set to undergo an MRI scan in an effort to get to the bottom of it.
Whilst it is purely speculation at this point with the severity of the injury still unknown, some outlet’s are questioning whether or not it brings Kasper’s season to an end, with some even questioning if he would be fit for the Denmark squad come the September international break where the Danes host Scotland in the opening World Cup 2026 qualifier.
That seems to be a very extreme outcome at this stage though, although it clearly seems that he will at least be out of selection contention for the next week or two as an absolute minimum and whilst that will mean he will miss some big matches as we close in on the end of the current 2024/25 campaign, it would remain to be seen as to whether or not that would include the Scottish Cup semi finals against St Johnstone.
We can just hope that the injury is not as bad as first feared, and certainly that having felt obligated to play on despite taking the knock and playing through pain as Denmark had no remaining substitutes left does not come back to significantly bite him, or his chances for a more speedy recovery.
We will now see what the authorities and rule makers will say as plenty had been pointing out that eventually the new offside application and letting VAR handle it would result in injuries and we now have proof of just that, and sadly it will be to our loss.
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