A year ago Hatem Abd Elhamed was impressing for Hapoel Be’er Sheva and hoping that it might earn him a move into Europe.
In the summer he got his move to Celtic, switching from central defence to right-back to slot in effortlessly to Neil Lennon’s side. Instantly the Elhamed family has taken to his new club with his son regularly seen on social media in Celtic colours.
A win at Ibrox early in his career seemed to set things up but late on in the 2-1 Europa League win away to Lazio he suffered a groin injury that virtually ended his season.
After a few false starts Elhamed made a 10 minute appearance as a substitute in the 5-0 win over St Mirren which put him in contention for the Glasgow derby.
Timing is everything, two days before the match football was suspended with a fully fit Elhamed put into cold storage, missing out on Israel’s Euro 2020 play-off against Scotland at Hampden.
Football is very much secondary at the moment as a pandemic takes effect, when the suspension is lifted and Celtic Park is filled up again it’ll be a sight that no-one ever takes for granted.
