Celtic and Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel hit out at his own national teammates for taking Belarus too lightly ahead of Tuesday’s massive showdown at Hampden. Scotland will reach their first World Cup in 28 years if Steve Clarke’s men can defeat Denmark in Glasgow.
The Danes could have secured their place at the tournament over the weekend, but they slipped up against a Belarus side they had thrashed 6–0 only a month earlier — and Schmeichel believes overconfidence played a major role.
He explained: “I always say you can’t go into a match expecting victory. There are no straightforward games at this level, and you must never underestimate the opposition.
“Yes, we beat Belarus 6–0 recently, but I warned everyone in the dressing room beforehand that it would be nothing like that this time.
“They’ve got a good manager and analysts who studied what went wrong for them. They came with a different strategy, and we were caught out. The result is hugely frustrating.
“I don’t know if ‘shocked’ is the right word, but after their first goal we needed to regroup — and we didn’t manage it.”
The 39-year-old veteran is already switching his focus to the crunch qualifier in Glasgow.
He added: “On the bus back to the hotel we had time to reflect on what happened. But now we have to put it behind us, because Tuesday brings an absolutely enormous match.”
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