VILJAMI SINISALO could never have dreamed he would return to Hampden as a Celtic keeper when he played for Finland at the venue in June last year.
The 22-year-old Finnish No.1 lined up against Scotland – and future club team-mates Callum McGregor, Anthony Ralston and Greg Taylor – as Steve Clarke’s side prepared for the UEFA Finals 24 in Germany.
Sinisalo, who was an Aston Villa reserve at the time, helped his nation to a 2-2 draw before his surprise £1million move to the champions just over a month later.
Now the shotstopper is back at the national stadium on Sunday as Brendan Rodgers’ men face St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup semi-final.
POISED TO SPRING…Finland keeper Viljami Sinisalo is prepared to deal with Tommy Conway’s header in the 2-2 draw with Scotland at Hampden in June last year.
It’s his fourth successive appearance after taking over from the injured Kasper Schmeichel and Sinisalo is looking forward to continuing to make progress in the role.
The netminder tasted defeat for the first time as a Celt just under a fortnight ago when the team unexpectedly stumbled to a 1-0 loss in Perth against the relegation-threatened side, ironically managed by fellow-Finn Simo Valakari.
Despite the setback at McDiarmid Park, Sinisalo said: “I’m loving every minute of it. There are things I want to do better and I’m probably my biggest critic.
“I want to be excellent in the way I play and the more you play, the better you get.
“It’s been even better than I expected in terms of the reception from the fans and the support from the football club.
“I play with my heart on my sleeve and, hopefully, people can see that.”
Sinisalo, speaking to Celtic TV, continued: “We’re expecting a tough game on Sunday.
“They’ve proved that they can compete when we played them at their place.
PAST AND FUTURE…former Celtic keeper Craig Gordon and future Hoops No.1 Viljami Sinisalo embrace after the Hampden stalemate.
“Every game is a tough game, anything can happen in football, so we have to be on our game, compete first and foremost and, hopefully, the result will follow.”
Reflecting on his previous appearance at Hampden, Sinisalo added: “I wasn’t meant to play in that game, but our keeper did something just before half-time.
“I was in the changing room and I got a tap on the shoulder to say I was coming on.
“It was the biggest game I had been involved in at that time in my career.
“We went down 2-0 and pulled it back to 2-2.
“They’re great memories and hopefully we can create some more on Sunday.”
