THE matches that Sead Haksabanovic will be involved in during the international break promise to be intense and demanding for a number of different reasons.
The Celtic forward will be under pressure to help Montenegro, who have never before made it through to the finals of a major tournament, get their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign off to a successful start against Bulgaria in Razgrad on Friday night.
The Group G meeting with Serbia, who his adopted homeland played alongside until they declared their independence in 2006, in Podgorica a week today will also be an interesting outing for the Swedish-born footballer.
Yet, the 29-times capped 23-year-old, who netted another spectacular goal in the 3-1 cinch Premiership triumph over Hibernian at Parkhead on Saturday, is confident that he will be able to cope with whatever comes his way.
Since joining the Scottish champions from Russian outfit Rubin Kazan in August, Haksabanovic has featured in Champions League games against RB Leipzig, Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk as well as in the Viaplay Cup final win over Rangers at Hampden.
He believes those experiences and others like them have prepared him for anything.
“I always feel good going away,” he said after the Hibs victory at the weekend. “It’s a little bit of a change and the weather is mostly going to be warm. It’s always nice to go away and see different faces and get a different energy.
“It is a big spell coming up. Some more game time in my legs is always good. You get better with the more game time you get. Hopefully I can start one game and play 90 minutes.
“There are some big games coming up with Celtic. But for now I’m just focusing on the national team and trying to come back with some more confidence. We’ll talk about what happens after that that when it comes.”
Haksabanovic added: “Serbia could be quite an interesting game. It will be the first time I have played against them. I look forward to it. It’s always nice playing in a derby or a big game.
“I haven’t been involved in one with the national team. I think it will be good and the atmosphere will be good. But I don’t think you can beat the atmosphere at Celtic Park.”
The Celtic fans inside a packed Parkhead grew more and more restless as the clock ticked down in the second-half of the Premiership encounter with Hibs on Saturday; Ange Postecoglou’s team were drawing 1-1 with Lee Johnson’s side entering the closing stages.
But Hyeon-gyu Oh netted a diving header at a David Turnbull corner with nine minutes remaining and then Haksabanovic curled beyond David Marshall in injury-time to secure another three points and restore their nine point advantage over Rangers at the top of the table.
The former Halmstads, West Ham United, Malaga, IFK Norrkoping, Rubin Kazan and Djurgardens man was always confident his side would prevail. He has seen them do it on countless occasions in the past seven months and thinks it is a huge strength.
“Hibs made it hard for us,” he said. “They scored then they slowed the game down. But we managed to focus on what we should do and we did it well and got the win in the end.
“Our mentality is very good on the pitch. We believe in the way the manager wants us to play and wants us to do things and we believe in each other because we know we have good quality.
“We have quality that can do something in the last minutes and maybe score a goal or make an assist. We know everyone in the team wants to do that.”
The substitutes Postecoglou threw on against Hibs in the second-half – he freshened up his team with Liel Abada, Alexandro Bernabei, Haksabanovic, Oh and Turnbull – ultimately secured a hard-fought three points which restored the nine point lead over Rangers at the top of the table.
“We have such a big squad,” said the Montenegrin. “We can put any player out there and they will do well. It doesn’t matter if we start or come from the bench, we all want to play and want to show the manager we want to play and help the team.
“I concentrate on trying to score or assist. That’s my game, that’s what I want to do. I was very happy to score at home. I haven’t scored in an away game yet, but hopefully that will come. I’m enjoying myself here in front of our fans.
“Strikers get more opportunities here than they did at my last clubs. We play in a way our strikers can get more chances to go one against one and do the stuff we like. I’m enjoying the time here. I love the way we play so I’d say for a striker like me it is very good to be here.”
Oh, the South Korean internationalist who joined Celtic in a £2.5 move from Suwon Samsung Bluewings in his homeland in January, is certainly enjoying his new surroundings and Haksabanovic is relishing playing and training with the powerfully-built predator.
“He’s a very good player,” he said. “He’s scored some goals and shown that he’s a very good player. But he’s a better guy. He likes talking to everyone, he has good English, he’s trying to come into the team and I think he’s very happy here.”
Celtic supporters were deeply unhappy about the penalty, which Josh Campbell duly converted, that Steven McLean awarded Hibs after a VAR check six minutes before half-time. No fewer than seven of the 21 goals they have conceded in the top flight this term have come from spot kicks.
But the match official was correct. Carl Starfelt had pulled the shirt of Paul Hanlon as his fellow centre half had attempted to win the ball in his area. The Swede’s actions could have cost his side dear if there had not been another re-run of the Late, Late Show at Parkhead.
