Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is holidaying in Spain but still has his eye on football, taking in one of Saturday night’s international matches.
Rodgers joked after winning the Scottish Cup Final that, while he was ready to take a short break, his phone wouldn’t stop ringing. Football is inescapable even in the off-season.
The Bhoys boss lives and breathes the game so when a match arrived on his holiday doorstep, he of course took in the game as a spectator.
Newspaper Ultima Hora reports that Rodgers was in attendance as Spain dished out a 5-1 lesson to Northern Ireland in Palma, Mallorca on Saturday night – the country’s final warmup before heading off to EURO 2024 in Germany.
The visitors actually took a shock lead in the match after Daniel Ballard scored in the second minute but goals from Pedri, Alvaro Morata, Fabian Ruiz and Mikel Oyarzabal followed.
Brendan Rodgers throws backing behind Michael O’Neill
The Celtic manager recently showed public support for the Northern Ireland boss, telling The Belfast Telegraph: “Michael is a fantastic manager and he is developing a team that will compete in qualifying campaigns again.
“With young players, it can take time, but if anyone can take Northern Ireland back to the finals of a major tournament it is Michael.
“It is exciting when a number of young players come through together and in Michael they have the right man to manage them.”
It will have been a blow to O’Neill and his team to lose so heavily to Spain, especially after early promise, but they’ll likely take many lessons from playing an elite side.
Rodgers will now enjoy a bit more time off before returning to Celtic towards the end of the month and preparing the team for pre-season.
The Bhoys’ first scheduled match against Ayr United is, unbelievably, less than four weeks away on 5th July.