Kasper Schmeichel has opened up about the painful circumstances surrounding the shoulder injury that sidelined him during a crucial stretch of Celtic’s run-in, revealing he played through the pain barrier while representing Denmark in their Nations League quarter-final against Portugal.
The 38-year-old goalkeeper sustained the injury during the second leg in Lisbon, a match that ended in a 5-2 defeat and saw the Danes eliminated 5-3 on aggregate. Despite being in visible discomfort during extra time, Schmeichel refused to leave the pitch.
Speaking about the incident, he said: “We didn’t have any subs left, so we were chasing getting to the final four. I didn’t want to leave the team with 10 men. Sometimes you just have to push through the pain barrier. When you’re playing for your country, it means the world. I wanted to get the opportunity to win a trophy for us — unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.” [Celtic TV]
Schmeichel has since returned to full training and made his injury return against Hibs last weekend.
Vin Sinisalo came back into the squad against Aberdeen, as the manager explained was due to happen and it had nothing to do with Schmeichel’s shoulder.
Kasper is expected to start against St Mirren at the weekend and Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final next weekend.
In a campaign that’s seen him rack up 47 appearances, Schmeichel’s reliability and experience have been invaluable to Celtic, and his return to fitness is timely as the Hoops aim to complete a domestic Treble at Hampden later this month.
He’s a Premier League winner, but he could be about to turn into a treble winner at Celtic.
