Terrific Chermiti: Old firm hero linked with Portugal call-up
Former Everton and now Portugal manager Roberto Martinez has highlighted that Youssef Chermiti is in sight for a potential World Cup call-up. The Portuguese striker scored an astonishing overhead kick as well as another neat finish in last weekend’s Old Firm derby. Just two weeks before, he scored a hat-trick in a 4-2 win over league leaders Hearts. The striker had a slow start to life at Ibrox, as well as coming with a big fee, but he now has nine league goals, with eight of them coming against Hearts and Celtic. And this form has caught the eye of experienced Portugal boss Roberto Martinez. He said: “It’s important to keep the door open to new talent in the national team. “In that respect, we are looking at Francisco Conceicao, Rodrigo Mora and Fabio Silva. Youssef Chermiti at Rangers is another player who is doing well. “Each player’s current form is important, but their contribution across a whole season should not be forgotten.” Chermiti has already played many games for Portugal at a youth level, with four goal involvements in five at U21 European level, he will be looking to move onto bigger and better things and potentially assist his country come June. With Portugal’s arranged friendlies later this month with Mexico and USA, and with the matches being played in two of the chosen World Cup countries, Chermiti will be looking to get a brief taster before the big finale in the summer. Portugal’s squad in general is fantastic, with top players from across the best leagues in the world. It is a great advertisement for Scottish football to see players from the league getting recognition from world class countries. However, there is still a lot of football to be played domestically, and with many important fixtures approaching, the 21-year-old will need to be fully focused on continuing his good form in big matches and helping Rohl’s Rangers push for the title. If he does continue his fine form, will Chermiti be on that plane with Ronaldo come the summer?
“We’ll keep pushing away” – Carrick remains grounded amidst positive form
Michael Carrick has encouraged his side to “live in the moment” after moving up to third in the Premier League table. Carrick continues to be lauded for his side’s excellent form, but insists that catching Arsenal is not the immediate focus for his reinvigorated team. “Listen, you can’t rule anything out in football, but we’ve got to be realistic,” he said. “We’ve just got to try and keep winning games and see. Above us now there are two fantastic teams and there are some really good teams in and around us. “We’ve had a good run but we’re certainly not getting carried away. “You’ve got to be patient but you’ve also got to live in the moment a little bit. “Wherever that’s going to take us, we’ll just have to see. But we’ll keep pushing anyway.” Sunday’s comeback victory over Crystal Palace means United have picked up 19 points from a possible 21 in the league under Carrick. The former midfielder has urged his side to remain “grounded”. “I’m always learning things as you go through and [things] you could have done a little bit better,” he said. “There is a lot of context, with different players and what the games look like. “It’s not so much guarding against it, it’s living in the moment, keeping grounded and understanding what it takes to win games. “We won’t get carried away. You have to feed off the confidence and understand that runs of wins are hard to come by. We’re hungry for more and want it for as long as it will last.” Manchester United return to domestic action against Newcastle United on Wednesday evening, before hosting Aston Villa at Old Trafford this weekend.
