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The National
3 days ago
- General
- The National
Every Celtic player away on international duty this month
A total of eight men will represent their countries across various competitions and continents. Read more: Here is every Celtic player away on international duty this month, and when their respective countries are due to play... Viljami Sinisalo - Finland Sinisalo has three Finland caps to his name. He will aim to build upon such a number this month when his nation take on the Netherlands on Saturday, June 7 at 7.45pm and then Poland on Tuesday, June 10, also at 7.45pm. Kasper Schmeichel - Denmark Schmeichel's Denmark have a duo of friendlies this month. They play Northern Ireland on Saturday, June before taking on Lithuania on Tuesday, June 10 at the same time. Anthony Ralston - Scotland Similarly to Denmark, the Scots have two practically meaningless games coming up. Iceland travel to Hampden on Friday, June 6 at 7.45pm before Steve Clarke's men head out to face Lichtenstein on Monday, June 9 at 5pm. Liam Scales and Adam Idah - Ireland Ireland welcome Senegal to Dublin on Friday, June 6 at 7.45pm and then travel to take on Luxembourg on Tuesday, June 10 at the same time. Luis Palma - Honduras Palma's was named in Honduras' provisional 60-man squad for this summer's Gold Cup. They are in Group B alongside Canada, El-Salvador and Curacao. They firstly face a duo of World Cup qualifies against the Cayman Islands on Saturday, June 7 at 8pm and Antigua and Barbuda on Wednesday, June 11 at 3am. Alistair Johnston - Canada Johnston's Canada take on Ukraine on Saturday, June 7 at 8pm before facing Ivory Coast on Wednesday, June 11 at 1.30am. That duo of friendlies prepares them for their respective Gold Cup campaign. Marco Tilio - Australia The Aussies take on Japan and Saudi Arabia in World Cup qualifies this month. Tilio's nation welcome the former to Perth on Thursday, June 5 at 12.10pm before taking on the latter away from home on Tuesday, June 10 at 7.15pm. Paulo Bernardo - Portugal under-21s The midfielder will play for his country's under-21s at the under-21 Euros in Slovakia. Portugal are in Group C, alongside France, Poland and Georgia. Their group games are as follows: vs France - Wednesday, June 11 at 8pm vs Poland - Saturday, June 14 at 8pm vs Georgia - Tuesday, June 17 at 5pm
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Scottish Premiership side agree deal to sign Scott Bain
Read more: After sliding to third in the pecking order behind Kasper Schmeichel and Viljami Sinisalo the former Scotland stopper was given the green light to seek first team football elsewhere. And Bairns boss John McGlynn has moved quickly to tie up a 12-month agreement with the former Scotland stopper as he gears up for the Bairns' return to the Premiership after a 15 year absence. Signed in 2018 Bain made 69 appearances for the Celtic first team. And the Parkhead club have already agreed a deal to snap up Aberdeen free agent Ross Doohan.
Scottish Sun
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Football MUST take back control from the mindless yobs who are threatening to kill our game, writes Bill Leckie
THE people who run football can act as shocked as they like about what happened to Jack MacKenzie at Tannadice on Saturday. But if any of them dare tell us they were surprised, they shouldn't let the door smack them on the backside as they leave the building for good. 3 Nobody should dare say they're surprised at what happened to Jack MacKenzie 3 Celtic keeper Viljami Sinisalo was pelted with objects in a recent match at Ibrox 3 And pyro and pitch invasions have become an all too common occurence Because the shameful moment when a player was badly injured by a missile thrown from the stands has been coming for a long, long time. I've lost count of how often this column has warned that clubs, Blazers, cops and stewarding firms alike were sleepwalking towards the kind of incident that changes the game for everyone. Yet they've just kept on staggering along, mouthing platitudes about how this sort of thing simply won't do, pleading with halfwits to behave, threatening sanctions that mean nothing. And, most of all, hoping against hope it doesn't all go pear-shaped on their watch. Well, it has. A footballer is lucky not to have lost his sight thanks to the stupidity and the anger of some knuckledragger who decided to hurl a plastic seat into a crowd scene. That the knuckledragger in question was wearing the colours of the team MacKenzie plays for throws the senselessness of their actions into even sharper relief. It also made sure the reaction from the Dons, from host club Dundee United and from the SPFL was all the more urgent and all the more laden with outrage. Outrage isn't enough, though, not this time. Stern words and wagging fingers aren't enough. This simply MUST go down as the day and hour when those in charge accept that they haven't done enough to prevent something this inevitable happening. It MUST be the day when football takes back control of stadiums from the morons who are slowly but surely killing matchday for tens of thousands of true supporters. Celtic fans fight in the streets during title party as Glasgow's Trongate left strewn with litter The smoke bombs. The flares. The gang mentality. The drunkenness, the drug taking. The abusive chants, the offensive banners. The pitch invasions. Scottish football has let it all creep up on us while kidding itself on it was somehow a good thing, that it brought atmosphere back to games. Atmosphere? Sorry, but if this has become our definition of the word, give me the rustle of sweetie papers any day. Remember, what happened to Jack MacKenzie wasn't some isolated incident. It's only ten days since Celtic keeper Viljami Sinisalo spoke out about having bottles, lighters and more aimed at him during an Old Firm game. His team-mate Arne Engels was struck at Ibrox earlier in the season. We constantly see fireworks being thrown on to playing surfaces, often — as with that fateful black plastic seat — endangering the very players those chucking them claim to idolise. Somehow, though, those in power have failed to join the dots. Either they've failed to spot the danger of this sinister trend or, more likely, have chosen to ignore it in the hope that it goes away. Guess we could ask Jack MacKenzie how that's working out; him or any number of residents and business owners in Glasgow's city centre who, for the fifth year on the bounce, have been held hostage by lawless mobs whose idea of a title celebration is to make life hell for anyone and everyone around them. For the people who run Celtic to ask supporters not to invade the streets in the wake of Saturday's trophy presentation was as pointless as asking the sun not to rise and set. It was a cop-out, their way of shrugging that they did their best, of washing their hands of the inevitable consequences. Again, I lose count of the columns asking why the Parkhead board, Glasgow City Council and Police Scotland can't get together with fans groups and arrange something official, something controlled, something accountable. Again, I join an entire city in scratching my head at why yet again it's been allowed to turn out the way it did. This is where we've come to, though, a place where the vast majority of genuine supporters feel increasingly disenfranchised thanks to the very clear decision taken by those in authority to pander to a selfish, self-entitled and often downright nasty minority. Right back to the day Hibs won the Scottish Cup in 2016, football has done nothing to stop the kind of pitch invasion that saw Dundee United fans goad rivals in the lead-up to MacKenzie being wounded. Cops and stewards who clearly don't search bags well enough then stand by and watch the fireworks and flares those bags contain being let off in enclosed spaces. In short, the lunatics have taken over the asylum. So while some might choose to see what one moronic excuse for a human being did at Tannadice as an isolated incident, for me it's part of a much wider issue. As that seat spun through the air, it was a crime that had been waiting to happen. Not to mention one that might soon pale into insignificance compared to what happens next — if, that is, all concerned fail to see that enough is enough. I'm not trying to shock here, just being realistic. Fact is, fans flooding on to the turf hasn't led to a genuine tragedy. Yet. Fact is, fireworks and flares haven't led to a genuine tragedy. Yet. Fact is, massed gatherings in city centres haven't led to a genuine tragedy. Yet. Then again, fact is that before Saturday afternoon a player hadn't yet been the victim of serious assault. Which leaves us with the question: How much longer are we prepared to keep gambling with lives? SHAUN DENNIS was hard as nails on the park, but could be soft as marshmallow off it. Utterly ruthless when it came to defending his penalty box, but the kindest man on earth to his loved ones and pals. Plus, he was one hell of a footballer, a gnat's eyebrow away from making the very top. I adored the big fella. It was my privilege to know him. And, like so very many others, I was brokenhearted to hear on Friday that he had passed away aged just 55. We knew he was ill; he'd been diagnosed with a brain tumour back in 2022 and it had slowly been doing its worst ever since. Yet the bad news — the very worst of news — came so quickly that it simply didn't seem right, didn't seem real. This strapping, courageous, talented, fun-loving, grumpy, streetwise, daft-as-a-brush lump of granite, reduced to a shadow of himself by something growing in his head. It all just seems so unthinkably, incalculably wrong. So what can you do but remember him at his very best? He won three league titles with his beloved, hometown Raith Rovers. He scored their first-ever Premier League goal. He took a penalty in their fairytale shootout win over Celtic in the 1994 League Cup Final. Along with another fallen hero in Ronnie Coyle, he was at the heart of the side who came through two rounds of the Uefa Cup then led Bayern Munich 1-0 at half-time in the Olympic Stadium. He had four years at Hibs, but always gravitated back to Stark's Park, where he played more than 400 times, became their most decorated player and even had a spell as caretaker manager. No wonder that in 2017 this special man was inducted into the club's Hall Of Fame when it was my joy to interview him on stage and see tears well in his eyes. Yet now he's gone — and a household, a band of brothers, a club, a town and the game itself have lost a legend. Shaun, you were a rough diamond. But also the rarest of gems. WELL done to every manager and player who wakes this morning having survived the nerve-shredding anxiety of those play-offs. Mick Kennedy and his boys at East Kilbride, preparing for life in League Two. Rhys McCabe and Airdrie, surviving in the Championship. As for Dick and Ian Campbell, now with 11 promotions to their names after taking East Fife into League One? At a time when they're mourning the death of their younger brother Duncan, further proof — if proof was needed — of what a uniquely committed pair the twins truly are. THERE'S no secret to Lewis Ferguson's success. He's just a good kid from a loving home who's making the absolute most of his talent, a model pro working like a bear to get a little better every day. Result? At 25, he's gone from Hamilton Accies to captaining Bologna in Serie A and lifting their first major silverware in half a century. It's a wonderful story that reflects so well on him as well as on parents Carol and Derek — and one that, after beating AC Milan to win the Coppa Italia, you'd hope is only just beginning. All of which leaves only one puzzle to be solved. Why is he still having to hang about the fringes of our national team? Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
The Herald Scotland
16-05-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Celtic's nature Bhoy on staying calm, and cup final chances
When you speak to Viljami Sinisalo though, you quickly realise that all is not as it may seem on the surface. Not least when the Finn speaks and an accent which is more common on the Holte End than on the streets of Helsinki escapes from his mouth. It is his temperament though that belies his relative lack of big-time experience, and the calmness he exudes which seems to have a stabilising effect on the defenders in front of him, and has already convinced many observers he has what it takes to be a future Celtic number one. That has been helped by his commitment to getting out into nature, something he developed a love for in his homeland growing up, and something he has been able to maintain since coming to Celtic. Though, as he gets more recognisable, finding peace and quiet even in some of the remotest locations in the West of Scotland is proving trickier. 'Yeah, I get the factor 50 on and I do love it,' Sinisalo said. 'I do quite a bit of that at home. I do enjoy it. Loch Lomond's been our favourite with the missus. So, yeah, it's been good. 'I'm very much a nature type of guy, obviously being from Finland there's quite a bit of that back home. So, yeah, we'll try and get out as much as you can now. Somewhere quiet, peaceful. (Image: Craig Foy - SNS Group) 'But you get [fans] everywhere now. It's so big [the club]. You get it everywhere, wherever you go. Whether you go on a golf driving range or just for a little walk in the park, you get a few. But it's fine. 'I went to Conic Hill once and there were a few in the car park there. But people are nice. When you're with other people, people know to leave you to yourselves. 'No-one's ever got a problem with taking a picture. It's not a problem. So, it's been nice. 'I suppose [I'm getting that a little bit more] now that I've played a few more games. People probably recognise you because you're in the limelight a little bit. But it's part and parcel of it. That's why you're here. Everyone wants to play and that comes with playing, so I can't complain. Read more: 'I understand what it takes to be here. Listen, whether I'm 23 or 33, I'll try and prove that I'm that calm persona in goal you can rely on. That's just what I am as a person on the pitch and off the pitch. I'm quite calm. 'I try and show my personality when I play. That's one of the big things as a goalkeeper - you've got to show that personality and that real presence you've got. 'That probably helps with age. You get better as you go. But, that's just who I am. I'm trying to just show my personality.' He certainly did that during the recent draw with Rangers, not only in his strength of character to remain unfazed by the missiles being aimed in his direction, but after Celtic scored too. Though, his celebration – which caused quite a stir on social media – almost backfired spectacularly. 'It's funny, obviously, because I've celebrated and the goal's been chalked off,' he said. 'But, I wouldn't know that because I'm celebrating. So, how football goes, you get a bit from the fans and stuff like that. 'Then, there's the VAR check and the goal gets given. So, you celebrate a little bit more! But, that's just how it is. I never like to celebrate too early, though, in terms of there's a time and a place to go and celebrate. 'That tends to kick you in the backside if you celebrate too early. But, yeah, it's nice moments. There's a bit of passion, obviously. I want to play with a bit of passion. That's just who I am.' The Celtic fans will get an opportunity to see Sinisalo in action again during the game against Aberdeen at Pittodrie tomorrow night, with Brendan Rodgers already confirming that he will take Schmeichel back out of the line-up following his return from injury against Hibs at the weekend. Whether he will be able to do enough to convince his manager that he is the man best-placed to face the Dons again when the teams meet in the Scottish Cup Final remains to be seen, but whatever way that call goes, Sinisalo has been delighted to have been able to contribute to his side's success in recent weeks. 'I suppose nothing's a given in football,' he said. 'I'm not even focusing that far ahead. I'm just trying to enjoy the moment. Every chance you get to play is a privilege. I'm just happy I've now had the chance to play and I'm trying to show to people that probably haven't seen me as much of what I am and what I'm about. 'That's all you can do. Then if the manager makes the decision, the manager makes the decision. But I can only do what I can on the pitch and try and show in training and on the pitch what I'm about. (Image: Craig Williamson - SNS Group) 'If you asked me three months ago of the games that I've now had since I've been in the team, I've obviously played at Tannadice in the league clinching game and played at Hampden, played at Ibrox. So, I would have been happy in terms of that. 'I've managed to experience different things. Every game as a Celtic keeper requires different things. Whether you're playing Kilmarnock at home where you have one shot and you're just passing it, or whether you go to Ibrox and you're expected to make a couple more saves and be very composed on the ball. 'But every game is different and you need that bit of a run of games to kind of show that you can do all those things. You can go in for one or two games and I suppose you can look alright, but it's whether you can then do it for 10 games, 20 games, 30 games, which, for instance, Kasper has done for us this season. 'So, I'm just trying to prove that I can be a Celtic goalkeeper for the foreseeable.'
Scottish Sun
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
There's no escape from fanatical Celtic fans even when I climb a hill, but I love that says Viljami Sinisalo
The 23-year-old says he's adjusting to life in the spotlight at the treble-chasing Hoops FINN PEAKS There's no escape from fanatical Celtic fans even when I climb a hill, but I love that says Viljami Sinisalo PLAYING in the Scottish Cup final might look like a mountain to climb for Viljami Sinisalo right now. But the goalie has got used to what comes with being a Celtic player — after being spotted out hillwalking. Advertisement 4 Viljami Sinisalo will be back in goal against Aberdeen Credit: Kenny Ramsay 4 Viljami Sinisalo in training Credit: Kenny Ramsay 4 Viljami Sinisalo saves from Rangers' Nico Raskin Credit: Willie Vass As a kid growing up in Finland, Sinisalo always loved the outdoors. So he's jumped at the chance to explore Scotland since joining the Hoops from Aston Villa almost a year ago. Sinisalo has also grasped the opportunity to impress while first pick Kasper Schmeichel has nursed a shoulder injury. The Dane returned for the win over Hibs on Saturday but Sinisalo will be back between the sticks for tomorrow's trip to Aberdeen. His appearances have seen him recognised more while he's been out and about — but that's something he's more than comfortable with. Advertisement Sinisalo, 23, said: 'I do love the outdoors. I do quite a bit of that at home and I enjoy it. 'I'm very much a nature type of guy and being from Finland there's quite a bit of that back home. 'In the good weather I've got the factor 50 on. Loch Lomond's been my favourite with the missus. 'We try to get out as much as we can now. It tends to be somewhere that's quiet and peaceful. Advertisement 'I went to Conic Hill at Loch Lomond recently and there were a few Celtic fans in the car park there, but people are nice. 'I suppose I'm getting that a little bit more now I've played a few more games. People probably recognise you because you're in the limelight a little bit but it's part and parcel of it. Fresh drone footage goes behind the scenes at Celtic's delayed new training complex 'So you get that everywhere now, wherever you go. 'It's so big. Whether you go to a golf driving range or just for a little walk in the park, you get a few but it's fine. Advertisement 'When you're with other people, people know to leave you to yourself. No one's ever got a problem with taking a picture. So it's been nice.' There have been plenty of players Sinisalo's age who have crumbled when handed their chance in the Old Firm pressure cooker. There have been plenty of goalies many years older than the Finn who have failed to take their chances and had their reputation tarred forever because of their blunders too. But Sinisalo is as cool as they come and insists he's embraced the levels of expectation placed on his shoulders. Advertisement He said: 'Yeah, I understand what it takes to be here. Listen, whether I'm 23 or 33, I'll try and prove I'm that calm persona in goal you can rely on. 'That's just what I am as a person on the pitch and off the pitch — I'm quite calm. I try to show my personality when I play. 'That's one of the big things you need as a goalkeeper — you've got to show that personality and the real presence you've got. 'That probably comes with age. You get better as you go. But, that's just who I am.' Advertisement Sinisalo reckons the opportunity to study other keepers has helped him develop the method he thinks works best between the sticks. He said: 'There's so much football out there for you to watch now that you look at goalkeepers and you think, 'right, I want to take that from him'. Or, 'I don't want to be that and I don't want to be erratic'. 'I want to be someone your defenders look at and be, 'We're fine here, we're absolutely fine. He's there, he's calm, he doesn't look fazed'. 'That's what I want to be. But listen, that's just who I am. The more work you do and the more times you get exposed to situations of high pressure, the better you get at that. Advertisement 'So, the more of that I get, the more of those games I play in like the Old Firm, the calmer you probably look. But that's just how I am. 4 'I don't try to be this erratic goalie. I try to be a calming force and lead in that way.' That isn't to say he doesn't possess that mad streak essential for most keepers to succeed. Advertisement He grinned: 'I suppose if you ask the lads, I probably do! I'm not going to come here and say I'm this very boring persona that's very one-line. "I'm still very passionate about what I do. You see us celebrating and I'll be the first to celebrate and run over to the corner if we score a last-minute winner. Don't worry about that. 'You almost need that madness in you. In general you don't come across many goalkeepers that aren't that way. 'We're normally very nice human beings, goalkeepers! Advertisement 'You know the nature of your position and how hard it can be and the respect you have for other goalkeepers. 'When someone does well, there's got to be that mutual respect with people, which I'm glad to see there definitely is in the modern game. 'You know that, every goal that goes in, the first person who's getting looked at, no matter how it goes in, is yourself. 'So it's a completely different position. It's kind of like a sport within a sport, goalkeeping, because you're scrutinised and the pressure is high." Advertisement Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
