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Trivia
- Following the last Derby of the old millennium the team were due to head off for the winter break to Portugal. There was just time for a few odds and ends of business
- Harald Brattbakk, who it was thought would be rejoining Rosenborg, reneged on the agreement when he saw the wages that the Norwegian club were offering. He was then linked to a host of other European clubs including Rayo Vallecano and St Etienne. The newspapers all announced that he had joined St Etienne for £650k on 7/1/00 only for the Norwegian to sign for FC Copenhagen on the 10th January signing a three year contract with the Danish side.
- Celtic investigated measures to sanction Mark Viduka’s principal agent, Bernie Mandic with International Management Group, when it became evident that Mandic was actively and illegally touting his client to clubs all around Europe. Mandic had been a loose cannon since day one of the association between Viduka and Celtic.
- On the 6th January Jackie McNamara signed a new contract with the club which would keep him a Celtic player till July 2004.
- Celtic flew out to the Algarve for the mid-winter Scottish season break on the 7th January. A party of 22 players made the trip including Henrik Larsson, Tom Boyd and Colin Healy.
- Tosh McKinlay joined Kilmarnock on the 11th January signing a 1 ½ year deal. He had been freed by Celtic in mid October and had taken a short term contract in Switzerland with Grasshoppers Zurich.
This game was against Portugese 2nd Division side Louletano Desportos Clube and they used it as a warm up game for a Cup match they were about to undertake.
Review
First game of the new millennium, with Lubo so incensed by the local refereeing that he had to be taken off after Celtic were denied 2 penaties within a minute then had a perfectly good goal chalked off. They then had another two goals ruled out for offside.
Teams
Loule:
(first half) Dadinho, Pedrero, Perreira, Rosario, Tierri, Campina, Jaques, Paulo Russo, Anderson, Tonnho, Zezinho.
Goalss: Jaques (8), Zezinho (10)
Celtic:
Kerr, McNamara, Boyd, Healy, Riseth, Petta, Wieghorst (Berkovic,75), Petrov, Blinker, Moravcik (Wright, 67), Burchill (Viduka, 85).
Goals: Petta (45), Berkovic (90)
Referee: Local Portugese
Attendance: 200
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Berkovic to the rescue as Celtic struggle
The Scotsman 13/01/2000
NEIL McLEMAN
In Algarve
CELTIC needed an injury-time goal to draw 2-2 with Portuguese Second Division side Loule yesterday in a friendly which threatened to boil over until Lubomir Moravcik was substituted at the insistence of the referee.
Eyal Berkovic, a late substitute, struck the equaliser from the edge of the box in the 49th minute of the second half to avoid an embarrassing result for a team which started with three internationals and introduced three more.
Celtic's increasing frustration in the second half was epitomised by Moravcik, who was removed on the instructions of an otherwise ineffectual local referee after a perfectly legitimate goal by Morten Wieghorst – who tapped home after the Slovak's free kick rebounded from the post – had been disallowed for offside.
The visitors, with Tom Boyd playing his first game in five months, carried on for several minutes with ten men until Ian Wright stripped and entered the fray. John Barnes' team had fallen two goals behind after only 11 minutes.
Boyd, who returned to action following a back operation, was outpaced in the lead-up to the first goal by Jacques while a wayward backpass from Vidar Riseth rebounded from the post into the path of Zezinho for the second.
After such a lackadaisical opening, Celtic eventually started to play seriously and Bobby Petta halved the lead in first-half injury time after a fine Moravcik pass.
Despite incessant pressure from Celtic in the second period, Loule, who changed their entire side at the interval, looked to have secured the win until Berkovic's timely intervention.
"We made it difficult for ourselves by losing two silly goals at the start but this game was all about getting match fitness," said Boyd, who last played on 7 August.
"In the first few minutes I was lacking a bit of sharpness but that is to be expected and it will come back. The more games for me the better at this stage."
He was also philosophical about the referee and the occasionally over-zealous opponents. "A few decisions didn't go our way and that can be infuriating as a professional. It was also quite competitive out there, as these types of games tend to be," he said.