No rest for Celtic stars as World Cup qualifying takes centre stage

[KK-Bhoy]

No rest for Celtic stars as World Cup qualifying takes centre stage

Just six days after Celtic suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Rangers in the first Old Firm match of the season, many of their stars will have to make the tiring trips abroad to represent their countries as European qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa gets underway this weekend.

Celtic and stand in Scotland captain Stephen McManus along with Gary Caldwell, Paul Hartley, Scott Brown, Barry Robson and Shaun Maloney have all been included in George Burley’s squad for the matches against FYR Macedonia in Skopje and Iceland in Reykjavík. All players will harbour realistic ambitions of starting at least one of matches in a bid to get Scotland off to the perfect start as they try and qualify for their first major championship since the 1998 World Cup in France.

Aiden McGeady has been named in the Republic of Ireland side for their match against Georgia in Mainz, Germany this Saturday. McGeady has still yet to bring his Celtic form to the international stage and the new Republic boss Giovanni Trapattoni will be hoping the time is right for him to step up to the mark. The Republic face Montenegro in Podgorica four days later, where they are expected to pick up the three points.

Elsewhere, Andreas Hinkel has been recalled to the Germany squad for the first time in two years as they prepare to take on Liechtenstein in Vaduz and Finland in Helsinki; and Jan Venegoor of Hesselink has once again been included in the Netherlands squad for their matches against Australia, which is a friendly, and FYR Macedonia in Skopje, like their Group 9 rivals Scotland would have done four days prior to the Dutch. However, neither player will be expecting much game time.

Georgios Samaras has been included in the Greece squad as they prepare to take on Luxembourg away and Latvia in Riga. He has already played for Greece 16 times since making his debut in 2006 and has scored 3 goals. However, he’s facing a big challenge to make it into the starting line up for the two matches as his cameos for his country in Euro 2008 left a lot to be desired.

And last but not least, Bobo Baldé - every Celtic fan’s favourite player after remaining at the club during the latest transfer window, turning down every offer made to him by clubs south of the border - will start for Guinea as they take on Zimbabwe in Harare in what is a crucial match for both countries. Baldé has played 27 times for his country and is seen as one of their most vital players.

It’s sure to be a busy few days for the Celts’ international contingent, and Hoops manager Gordon Strachan will have a tough task on his hands to get the players fully fit and refreshed by the time Celtic take on Motherwell in the SPL only a few days after the first really hectic international week of the season has finished.