Schmeichel Stands Tall During World Cup Stalemate
- Leicester City's Kasper Schmeichel started for Denmark on Saturday night
- The 31-year-old helped his country to a 0-0 World Cup Play-Off draw with the Republic of Ireland
- The two sides meet in Dublin for the second leg on Tuesday (7:45pm kick-off)
- Young striker Admiral Muskwe was on the bench for Zimbabwe's 3-1 loss to Namibia
Leicester City’s 16/17 Players' Player and Player of the Year started in Copenhagen for De Rød-Hvide after playing in all 11 of the Club’s Premier League fixtures this term.
Schmeichel, 31, was rarely tested by Martin O’Neill’s visitors as both sides delivered effective defensive displays ahead of Tuesday’s huge second leg in Dublin.
On 44 minutes, however, the Foxes stopper was forced to intervene when Middlesbrough’s Cyrus Christie burst into space down the right flank.
To the relief of a capacity crowd in the Danish capital, Schmeichel leapt into action, making himself big to keep the scores level ahead of the interval.
Late on, a hopeful backwards header from Shane Duffy also needed to be saved, but Schmeichel was there again to collect comfortably.
Speaking at full-time, the Danish Footballer of the Year said: "On reflection, Darren Randolph made some great saves so we’re a little disappointed not to get the win.
"It’s not the end of the world, we are in a better position than when we started. It was very important for us that they didn’t get an away goal.
"We needed to be a little more clinical. We were trying to play fast, incisive football. They were very disciplined in the way they defended, they came with a clear aim.
"We’re happy they didn’t get anything on the break but, when the opposition goalkeeper is the man of the match, it tells the story of the game."
Meanwhile, City youngster Admiral Muskwe was on the bench as Zimbabwe suffered a 3-1 defeat by Namibia earlier on Saturday afternoon.
The 19-year-old striker, who has scored six goals for the Club’s Development Squad this term, made his senior debut late on during a 1-0 reverse to Lesotho on Wednesday.
On Sunday, Daniel Amartey's Ghana face Egypt before another 12 Foxes feature on Tuesday - and you can follow their progress on LCFC.com.