USA under 20 coach Tab Ramos has revealed he had no sweats over missing Timo Weah for any of the World Cup competition because the player was really looking forward to participating in the tournament.

Neil Lennon terminated the Celtic loan player’s contract yesterday in dramatic fashion when Timo was told to pack his things and go before the Glasgow Derby game.

It then transpired that Celtic had worked out a proposal and agreed with the US coaches about the player coming back to play in the Scottish Cup final. However, Timo refused the chance to play in the final and told Celtic he’d be on his way after the Derby. This is when Neil Lennon reportedly told the American he should leave.

Tab Ramos believes Weah’s desire to play at the World Cup, even at under 20 level was too much of a pull for the midfielder to turn down.

“One of the things I can tell you that has never wavered this whole time is that Timo really wanted to participate in the Under 20s World Cup.” he told FootballScotland.

“I think when you have a player who is really looking forward to a competition that he believes is really important to him, I think it makes things easier.

“I see him as both a striker and a winger. I really like him as a No.9 and I like him as a winger, too. Most of the time he will be a winger, but I would like to use him as a striker as well because I think he can be a great No. 9 for us.”

It’s clear from his comments that Timo put the World Cup ahead of any major medal with Celtic.