Leeds United’s on-loan Sunderland midfielder Liam Bridcutt received his second cap yesterday for Scotland, coming on as a second-half substitute.
However, his appearance in the friendly against Denmark is hardly likely to be remembered for his contribution to the football played but rather a tackle that he made in Celtic’s Danish centre-back Erik Sviatchenko – see Tweet below.
https://twitter.com/WALMOT3/status/715075797971812352
The severity of the tackle, where Bridcutt lunges in with both feet, drew criticism from Denmark manager Age Hareide who claimed it could have easily been a career-ending tackle, such was the recklessness shown by the Leeds’ on-loan Sunderland midfielder. Speaking ater the game, Hareide said of the tackle, “It is red card. He could have broken Sviatchenko’s leg, the way he dives in. I don’t think he meant to be nasty, I just think he was over eager. But it was really bad. I saw television pictures afterwards and it was terrible. He could have taken his leg or his career.”
Sviatchenko, a £2m siging by Celtic manager Ronny Delia from FC Midtjylland in the January transfer window, spoke on the tackle and how he perceived the severity to be. After the match, a 1-0 friendly victory to Scotland, said of the incident, “When you see the replay it is unbelievable I didn’t get a serious injury. I said to the referee he could have broken my leg. But in a split second he had to make the decision and must have felt he touched the ball first. I was certain I was first to the ball and tried to pass it backwards. He came through me with all he had, 120 per cent.”
After his soiree with the Scotland side, Liam Bridcutt returns to domestic duties with Leeds United and this weekend’s upcoming fixture against Rotherham United in a game that the Whites will be hoping is a vast improvement over their last outing, a 4-1 defeat at the hands of bitter rivals Huddersfield Town.
