Hoops icon slams International boss for keeping fans in the dark about Celtic star's career threatening injury
The former Everton and Real Madrid man was furious about how a National Team boss handled the news.
Thomas Gravesen has blasted Denmark coach Brian Reimer for his ‘secrecy’ regarding an injury to Kasper Schmeichel.
Gravesen, who also played for the Danish National Team and Celtic during his playing career didn’t understand why the news broke out from Schmeichel himself on a CBS interview as the veteran stopper revealed a list of injuries including a torn bicep, rotator cuff, labrum and shoulder. At the age of 39, these issues could mean Schmeichel’s playing career could be over.
In terms of the National Team, the news couldn’t come at a worse time, given that Denmark are set to face North Macedonia next week, in their World Cup Qualification play-off. It’s an all-or-nothing clash for The Danes, who narrowly missed out on automatic qualification at the hands of Scotland in November.
Gravesen blasts Denmark Coach’s secrecy
Gravesen said via the Daily Record, “This is clearly something that goes back a long way, and again I have to blame Brian Riemer. Come on out! What kind of secrecy is this? Why is it that you can’t talk about these things when they happen? Why does it have to come as such a surprise?
“It was a bombshell when he announced his cancellation. If Brian Riemer has known about it for a long time… take charge of the situation and be the helmsman of this ship called DBU. Show us you know everything and you are aware of everything. Stop creating a stir in the duck pond. Take control of this huge story, which is that our top goalkeeper is suddenly not there.”
Schmeichel has been the mainstay in the Denmark goal for over a decade now and has 120 caps to his name. Thankfully for Reimer, Denmark have a lot of depth between the sticks with Chelsea’s Filip Jorgensen and West Ham’s Mads Hermansen ready to slot in as very capable back-ups.
Schmeichel on ‘devastating’ injury
The Celtic stopper revealed on CBS Sport Golazo: “I could've potentially played my last football game. I've been a footballer since the day I was born. It's devastating. It's very, very hard to wrap my head around at the moment. I got the message [on Tuesday] that it could potentially be the end of my career. By the time I could get back fit I could be plus 40.
"I'm going to give it everything I can to see if I can get back. It would be probably one of the greatest feats of my career if I could ever get back from an injury like this. I'm going to fight, I'm going to try everything I can. I'm going to do the rehab."
"I'm going to need two surgeries now to fix my shoulder. I've torn the bicep, torn the rotator cuff, dislocated the shoulder, torn the labrum. Everything's gone. To maybe put it into terms you can understand, it's like an outfielder doing his ACL and their Achilles at the same time. It's looking like 10-12 months of rehab. Football means everything to me. It's been my whole life, it's been my whole identity."
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