Celtic star Mohamed Elyounoussi has stated that he’s ready for a potentially “strange” international encounter against his Celtic team-mates on November 12th.
Elyounoussi and Kris Ajer’s Norway are currently scheduled to meet Scotland in the Euro 2020 play-off final next month. However, that’s if they can get past Serbia and Israel respectively.
In the Scotland ranks, the likes of Greg Taylor, Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie, and hopefully James Forrest will all be featuring next month. Should Israel overcome the Scots in Thursday’s semi-final, however, Elyounoussi could come up against fellow team-mates Nir Bitton and Hatem Elhamed instead.
However, speaking in the build-up to their crunch clash at home to Serbia on Thursday night, Moi was keen to stress this was anything but a friendly rivalry as he revealed it’s been spoken about in-house.
As quoted by the Herald, the Celtic loan star said: “We have been talking about the possibilities ever since we knew the draw and how it could work out.
“Of coure, the club games have been keeping our focus but now it’s about concentrating on our national teams. It will be interesting to see who goes through to the final.
“It would be a strange feeling (to play against his team-mates), but this is football. You play with team-mates, you play against friends all over. That’s why we enjoy it. Of course, when we play against each other we are not friends anymore. It is about making sure you win. As soon as it starts we are not friends, it’s like I don’t know them anymore.”
Feisty words, but Norway vs Scotland would be fun viewing
Being realistic, Norway vs Scotland would likely have five Celtic players taking part. Taylor would almost certainly be on the bench whilst we may be being a tad hopeful on Forrest.
However, it would certainly be fun viewing. Watching the likes of Christie and McGregor trying to get through Ajer would be brilliant. Seeing Forrest and Elyounoussi operating on the same flank would also make for intriguing viewing.
Then again, perhaps a meeting between the Norwegians and Israelis would provide the most interesting battle. Elyounoussi would likely be in direct competition with Celtic right-back Elhamed. What a battle that would be.
But there’s nothing jovial about what’s at stake here. Elyounoussi has the right mindset, treating his Celtic team-mates like he doesn’t know them anymore. The Scottish/Israeli Celtic players must have that same aggression should they meet the Norwegians.
Of course, we’ll likely see McGregor, Christie, and Elhamed feature in Thursday’s Scotland/Israel semi-final clash. After a 1-1 stalemate between the sides at Hampden last month in the new Nations League campaign, it’ll be intriguing to see who comes out on top here.
Here’s hoping they’re not too aggressive however with Celtic vs Rangers just around the corner!
In other news, Israel are desperate to play another Celtic star this Thursday – something Neil Lennon wouldn’t be happy about.
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