Hinkel intent on bringing home his worth to Low
Thursday November 05 2009
Andreas Hinkel will get a golden chance to stake his claim for a World Cup spot when Celtic face Hamburg in the Europa League at the Nordbank Arena tonight.
The former Stuttgart and Sevilla right-back played for Germany in summer friendlies against China and United Arab Emirates but lost his place in the subsequent World Cup qualifiers as Joachim Low's side booked their place in South Africa next year with a 1-0 win in Russia last month.
Hinkel (27) knows he has the perfect opportunity to impress Low and the rest of the German nation, although he tried to play down the pressure he must be feeling to perform.
"I am happy to be here," he said. "It is the first time that I have played against a German team since I left the country and so it is a special game for me.
"It is a game against a German team and all the people in Germany can see me, which is unusual, because it is difficult to watch Scottish football here. My family and friends are coming to watch the game so I am looking forward to it."
Hamburg are joint top of the table with Hapoel Tel Aviv on six points from three games, Rapid have four points and Tony Mowbray's side are bottom with one point. Hinkel, who missed Hamburg's 1-0 win at Celtic Park last month, accepts that three wins in the remaining three games may be needed to qualify from the group.
"The mathematics are simple," he said. "We know we have to win all three games that are left, but it's not as if we were annihilated in the other three games. We had a lot of chances."
Celtic manager Tony Mowbray, who will be without midfielders Scott Brown (ankle) and Shaun Maloney (tendonitis), is considering starting fit-again Marc-Antoine Fortune.
Paddy McCourt, and Niall McGinn are in the squad, along with Aiden McGeady.
Meanwhile, David Moyes is determined that Everton will restore their battered reputation in Europe tonight. Benfica arrive at Goodison Park after inflicting a damaging 5-0 defeat on his side in Lisbon. That was Everton's heaviest loss in continental competition and the scars are still healing.
However they remain among the favourites to progress from Group I and their unbeaten home run at this level stretches to an impressive nine games.
"We do not use the word revenge but pride is at stake," Moyes said. "We are hurting from the Benfica game and the result. Hopefully we can do something about it. We want to progress in the group, that is the important thing.
"It is great we are talking about expectations in Europe because that has not been the case for a long time. We are going to have a go and get a result.
"A point would not be a bad thing, the way the group is going. The key is to qualify, that's our aim and we could find ourselves closer to that target tomorrow. But we have to play much better than we did in Lisbon."
Moyes will be again down on numbers as John Heitinga and Lucas Neill are sidelined as they are both ineligible. Louis Saha (calf), Tony Hibbert (flu) are doubtful through injury and illness but Steven Pienaar could be on the bench after a knee problem.
Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, has suffered a setback in his recovery from a serious knee injury. Arteta snapped a cruciate ligament during the match against Newcastle United at St James' Park in the Premier League in February. He was expected to step up his rehabilitation in the next month only to suffer an infection.
Elsewhere, Fulham manager Roy Hodgson must plan without the injured Damien Duff while Roma's Francesco Totti is also ruled out of the clash between the two teams in Rome's Olympic Stadium.
Hamburg v Celtic, ESPN/ Setanta Irl, 6.0; Roma v Fulham, ITV4/ Setanta Irl, 8.0; Everton v Benfica, 3e, 8.0
- Jamie Holland
Irish Independent
