11 Celtic players to watch on international duty
By Kian Long
Celtic now have a chance to reassess the situation, as many of their players will be away on international duty. The Hoops have some important fixtures after the break, so they will hope for maximum rest and recovery for their players. Most importantly, though, they should return to Parkhead brimming with confidence and pride after representing their national teams, and hopefully on the back of some good performances as well.
There will be no Celtic action until the very end of the month. But fans can still tune in to watch the club's players in action for their respective national teams.
11 Celtic players to watch on international duty
There will be 11 Celtic players away with their national teams during the international break:
- Greg Taylor (Scotland)
- Anthony Ralston (Scotland)
- Daniel Kelly (Scotland U19s)
- Adam Idah (Ireland)
- Rocco Vata (Ireland U21s)
- Matt O’Riley (Denmark)
- Alistair Johnston (Canada)
- Daizen Maeda (Japan)
- Hyun-jun Yang (South Korea U23s)
- Odin Holm (Norway U21s)
- Paulo Bernardo (Portugal U21s)
Of those players away on international duty, the two representing Scotland will be the key figures of interest. Taylor and Ralston will be in action for their national team, as they face Netherlands away on Friday evening, then Northern Ireland at home in the coming midweek.
Rising Celtic youngster, Kelly, will also be in action for the Scotland U19s. They face Georgia U19s and Czech Republic U19s.
In-form striker Idah could represent Ireland as he doesn't travel far with two home matches against Belgium and Switzerland. In the U21s, Vata will travel to face San Marino in a EURO U21 qualifier.
Elsewhere in Europe, O'Riley will hope to earn his second Denmark cap and his first of the calendar year, as they face Switzerland and the Faroe Islands, both at home. Also, Holm will hope for more minutes with the Norway U21s since he hasn't featured much for Celtic this season. On the other hand, Bernardo hasn't been struggling for minutes and he will represent the Portugal U21s during this international break.
Next up, in Asia, Maeda will represent Japan, having recently scored a hat-trick against Livingston this month. Yang will be with the South Korea U23s team, having missed recent games due to a red card suspension and seeing Nicolas Kuhn move ahead of him in the pecking order with glittering displays.
Finally, in North America, Johnston will represent Canada. He is a valued member of their squad, so has every chance of starting their CONCACAF Nations League qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago.
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