The March international calendar properly kicks off on Thursday evening with a raft of Celtic stars dotted across the globe.
Not including loanees, 12 Celtic players were called up to represent their countries, including the likes of Japanese pair Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate, as well as American duo Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty.
While these players and more have jetted off around the world, some Celtic players have been left at Lennoxtown over the next week and a half.
Six men in particular for different reasons won’t be playing for their countries this month, as 67 Hail Hail explains why for each below.
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Luke McCowan & Greg Taylor (Scotland)
Celtic’s only representative in the Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad this month for the Greece double header is right-back Anthony Ralston.
It means midfielder Luke McCowan and left-back Greg Taylor miss out, with the former told by Simon Donnelly that a Scotland call-up is close.
McCowan has been impressive for Celtic this season since signing from Dundee despite not being a regular starter under boss Brendan Rodgers.
Scotland do, however, have a rich selection of midfielders to choose from in John McGinn, Scott McTominay, Ryan Christie and others – so we can only assume that is the reason why McCowan has been left out.
As for Taylor, it’s likely that Kieran Tierney’s return to the Arsenal team under Mikel Arteta is the main reason there.
Scotland also have captain Andy Robertson at left-back so Clarke is not short on options. Taylor has also just had a baby with his partner Laura so that may have played a part too.
Liam Scales & Johnny Kenny (Ireland)
Liam Scales has earned four Republic of Ireland caps so far this season and scored his first goal for them against Finland in October.
In his last international outing, the Celtic defender was sent off during defeat to England at Wembley. But he hasn’t been called up this time around due to injury.
21-year-old striker Johnny Kenny is yet to receive a senior call-up for Ireland. He last represented Ireland for their U21 side against Italy in October.
Arne Engels (Belgium)
It’s been a rough week for midfielder Arne Engels. He hasn’t been included in Rudi Garcia’s Belgium squad despite featuring in the last round of international fixtures.
And to make things worse, Rangers player Nico Raskin – who scored the first goal in the Glasgow derby defeat on Sunday – has taken his spot.
Engels replaced Callum McGregor as Celtic’s No.6 against Rangers but it was clear he wasn’t very comfortable in the role.
But Engels has been in decent form for the Hoops having notched six goal contributions in his last six Premiership outings for the club.
There is definitely a case for Engels to be in the Belgium team, but Garcia has thought otherwise.
Paulo Bernardo (Portugal U21)
Celtic fans will understand that Paulo Bernardo is nursing his way back from injury, so it’s clear why he hasn’t been called up by Portugal.
But given the fact he turned 23 in January, Bernardo is now ineligible for the Portugal U21 side anyway, who he played for as recently as November.
Bernardo was still 21 when Portugal U21 embarked on their qualification journey for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
So as per UEFA and FIFA rules, he was able to finish the campaign with them despite turning 22 midway through. Now though, he’s 23 and can’t take part in a new campaign.
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