There was an odd moment in last night’s game between the Czech Republic and Israel as Hatem Elhamed was given a straight red for what was seemingly a deliberate hand-ball.
It was a crazy decision from Hatem as he flung his arm out to stop the Czechs from getting in on goal. With Israel already 1-0 down, the red card was flashed and Hatem made his way off the pitch.
His Scottish Celtic team-mates such as Ryan Christie, Callum McGregor, Greg Taylor, and Leigh Griffiths would’ve been disappointed. Had Israel snatched a draw, then Scotland would’ve been confirmed as the winner of their Nations League group and promoted to the A section.
However, Hatem himself would’ve been raging at the time as the red card now rules him out of Wednesday’s game against Scotland at home. Israel are fighting against relegation down to the C section. Unfortunately for Elhamed, he’ll play no part.
But this is a clear blessing in disguise for Neil Lennon, who must be relieved. Given the question marks that hover over Kristoffer Ajer, he now knows that Elhamed won’t be playing any more international games during the break.
Elhamed could be needed at centre-back
Ajer may not be able to feature against Hibs given he’s having to quarantine back in Scotland along with Mohamed Elyounoussi. Yet whilst that will likely lead to a centre-back pairing of Nir Bitton and Shane Duffy for the trip to Hibs next week – Elhamed could still be needed.
With both Bitton and Duffy still having one more game to play this week, Elhamed will be next in line if another of Celtic’s centre-backs picks up a knock or a Covid-related setback.
He may also even be needed to play down the right if necessary too. With no confirmation as of yet that Jeremie Frimpong will be fit to play next Saturday, having Elhamed in reserve is essential.
So it’ll be interesting to see whether Neil Lennon decides to bring Elhamed back to Scotland early. There’s no real reason for him to be involved with Israel anymore, and given some of the bad luck they’ve had with Covid in recent times, we could do with bringing him back.
It’s been a relatively smooth international break for Celtic so far outside of the Ajer/Elyounoussi saga. The Hoops have players involved with Scotland, Scotland under-21s, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Greece, Israel, France under-21s, and Poland under-21s respectively.
There’s still time for things to get a lot worse of course, but for now, it looks like we’re avoiding the calamity of the last international break.
In other news, Steve Clarke has inexplicably bigged up Leigh Griffiths’ international strike rival despite a horrific record.
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