Two more Celtic stars in danger as teammate tests positive

The international break keeps getting worse for Celtic as two more of their players are in danger after their national teammate was confirmed to be positive.

It goes without saying that most Celtic fans are angry with the decision to organise an international break in the middle of a global pandemic, which might leave them significantly weakened when they face the Rangers in a little over a week.

First it was Odsonne Edouard who tested positive after reporting to France under-21 duty in Clarefontaine, meaning his participation in the Glasgow Derby was thrown into doubt. And then news broke out that Ryan Christie would also have to self-isolate for 14 days after coming in close contact with Stuart Armstrong during Scottish national team duty.

This is on top of James Forrest who is already confirmed to miss the game after suffering a fractured ankle in Celtic’s Europe League qualifier against Riga. As a result, the Hoops could be without three of their most important players when the Rangers visit Parkhead in the first Glasgow Derby of the season.

And now, it looks like two more of their players could be in danger of infection while on international duty.

The two are the Israeli duo of Nir Bitton and Hatem Abd Elhamed. Bitton’s callup despite being injured had already caused a lot of controversy and now their manager’s confirmation that one of the players was positive has naturally left Celtic fans sweating.

As reported by The Scottish Sun, Israel boss Willi Ruttensteiner said:

"“Let me say that I will confirm no player to you.“That would not be clever from my side.“We have 23 players here – one player has Corona and is isolated – and every one of them can be in the first XI.“So that is my statement.”"

While the identity of the player was not revealed, the fact that one of their teammates has been infected at the moment is cause for worry. You never know whether they have been in close contact with the person before he tested positive.

One thing this break has shown though is that this is not the time for international games to be organised. It just increases the chance of players coming in contact with infected individuals and raises the risk of the virus spreading further.

At this point, we can only hope that nothing comes out of this and neither Bitton nor Elhamed are safe.