They don’t come around too often but a goal from Tom Boyd is always a special occasion.
‘Matchwinner’ and ‘goal hero’ have rarely been terms associated with the former club captain but both of them applied this morning as the Celtic Legends beat the 1990 UAE side 1-0 to reach the semi-finals of the Emirates 7’s.
Celtic face Liverpool in the semi-finals without Derek Whyte who has to go back to his day job covering Premiership football for the Showtime Arabia Network.
“I’ve got a great job covering all the Premiership football but I’d love to be playing today,” Whyte admitted.
“After losing to Milan we’ve came on leaps and bounds and found the right formation.
“Andy Walker has been in great form and it’s good to have a striker that can tuck away half chances.
“The tournament has been a big success. At our level it’s been competitive and there are over 100 teams from around the world competing at different levels.
“Everything has been put together in the space of three months, everyone is happy and I’m sure that it will grow and grow in the years ahead.”
In the other semi-final Rangers play favourites AC Milan featuring former Celt Paolo di Canio…
Meanwhile in the professional part of the competition Celtic’s u-17 side lost 1-0 to Olympiakos and Feyenoord this morning.
Coach Stevie Frail said: “We played well but lost to Olympiakos and if we had won that game we wold have been in the semi-finals.
“The boys are disappointed but they are the youngest team in the tournament.
“They’ve been mixing with the Celtic legends and that’s been priceless for them.
“The older players still take a lot of pride in their performances and it shows our players the importance of playing for this club.
“We’ve enjoyed the tournament and watching the other teams, seeing Paolo di Canio has been an education for everyone.”
Meanwhile in the professional part of the competition Celtic’s u-17 side lost 1-0 to Olympiakos and Feyenoord this morning.
Coach Stevie Frail said: “We played well but lost to Olympiakos and if we had won that game we wold have been in the semi-finals.
“The boys are disappointed but they are the youngest team in the tournament.
“They’ve been mixing with the Celtic legends and that’s been priceless for them.
“The older players still take a lot of pride in their performances and it shows our players the importance of playing for this club.
“We’ve enjoyed the tournament and watching the other teams, seeing Paolo di Canio has been an education for everyone.”