It has been a busy international break all around the world, with nine Celtic players in action. Many of them will have aspirations of going to the World Cup come the summer, which should mean they are ultra-motivated to show their best during the remainder of the club season.
The Hoops have just seven Premiership fixtures remaining, each of which is surely a must-win, given that they are third in the table, two points below Rangers and five adrift of leaders Hearts. Well, last time out, their title hopes suffered a major blow, with Martin O'Neill's team beaten 2-0 at Tannadice.
This Sunday, the Celts will return to the city of Dundee, where they have now lost three times out of three already in this campaign, and failure to beat Steven Pressley's team at Dens would end their already flailing title aspirations. Ahead of this one, here are three players who should be full of confidence following their exploits on the international scene.
Viljami Sinisalo
After Kasper Schmeichel revealed that, following two shoulder surgeries, he will be sidelined for around a year, Viljami Sinisalo will be Celtic's undisputed number one until the summer at least. Well, since coming in for Schmeichel, the 24-year-old has largely impressed. Despite defeat against Dundee United a fortnight ago, he was forced to make six saves, rather keeping the score down.
Well, as a reward for his club form, Sinisalo was given a rare international start last week. Finland travelled more than most during this international break, playing a pair of friendlies in New Zealand. For the first of those, a 2-0 win over the hosts at Eden Park in Auckland, Sinisalo was donning the gloves, producing two saves as the Eagle-owls claimed victory.
Given that Lukáš Hradecký, who was restored against Cape Verde three days later, is one of the greatest Finnish players of all-time, Sinisalo has been limited to just seven caps thus far. However, with the number one now 36 years old, the Celtic shot-stopper is very much viewed as the heir to his throne, so he will be looking to continue his excellent form for club and country.
Benjamin Nygren
In an otherwise miserable campaign, summer signing Benjamin Nygren has been outstanding, a shoo-in to be the club's player of the season. Since arriving from Nordsjælland for around £1.7 million, he has scored 19 goals and registered seven assists across all competitions. For context, Celtic's next highest scorers are Daizen Maeda and Yang Hyun-Jun, both with eight.
Well, Nygren then enjoyed a better international break than most too. New Sweden manager Graham Potter has clearly been impressed by the 24-year-old's form, given that he started him in both of the Blågult's do-or-die World Cup play-offs, forming a front three alongside Anthony Elanga and Viktor Gyökeres, both of whom moved for £55m+ last summer.
Well, in the semi-final, Nygren's low ball across the six-yard box saw Gyökeres tap home the opener against Ukraine at Estadi Ciutat de València. Five days later, Nygren's free-kick was headed home by former Celt Gustaf Lagerbielke, thereby making it 2-1, as Sweden beat Poland 3-2 in Stockholm to secure their World Cup spot.
Landing in Group F alongside Tunisia, the Netherlands and Japan, one has to imagine that Nygren is well placed to not only be in the squad but play serious minutes at the World Cup itself. This will mean he is very motivated to continue his goal-scoring exploits upon his return to Glasgow.
Sebastian Tounekti
Speaking of World Cup Group F, Sweden's opener in Monterrey on 14 June will be against Tunisia, so could there be Celtic representation on both sides? Well, Norwegian-born Sebastian Tounekti switched his allegiance to the Eagles of Carthage in 2021, but his international career is yet to really take off, until now perhaps.
After featuring sporadically at the Africa Cup of Nations in December, starting only one of four matches, Tounekti remains far from guaranteed a World Cup place. However, in new head coach Sabri Lamouchi's first game in charge, he certainly enhanced his chances.
On Saturday, the winger scored the only goal as Tunisia beat Haiti 1-0 at BMO Field in Toronto. Three days later, he played the second half of their goalless draw with Canada at the same venue, replacing teenager Louey Ben Farhat at the interval. Thus, now with ten caps to his name, it is far from a certainty that Tounekti will make the cut come June. Nevertheless, the fact that he is fighting for this spot can only be good news for O'Neill, who needs the 23-year-old to step up, having scored just five goals since arriving from Hammarby for £5.2 million in September.
Complete list of Celtic players in international action during the break
- Viljami Sinisalo - Finland: 90 minutes during 2-0 win over New Zealand.
- Liam Scales - Ireland: 90 minutes during 0-0 draw with North Macedonia.
- Auston Trusty - USA: 90 minutes during 2-0 defeat to Portugal.
- Kieran Tierney - Scotland: 19 minutes vs Japan & 90 minutes vs Côte d'Ivoire.
- Anthony Ralston - Scotland: 9 minutes during 1-0 defeat to Japan.
- Benjamin Nygren - Sweden: 90 minutes vs Ukraine & 81 minutes vs Poland.
- Yang Hyun-jun - Korea Republic: 45 minutes vs Côte d'Ivoire & 27 minutes vs Austria.
- Sebastian Tounekti - Tunisia: 72 minutes vs Haiti & 45 minutes vs Canada.
- Daizen Maeda - Japan: 62 minutes during 1-0 victory over Scotland.