Celtic fans will be keeping an eye on events at major international tournaments this summer as they wait for pre-season to commence at Lennoxtown.
As everyone is acutely aware, Callum McGregor, Anthony Ralston, James Forrest, and Greg Taylor are involved at EURO 2024 with Scotland, though they aren’t the only ones featuring for their country on the big stage.
Cameron Carter-Vickers and Alistair Johnston are set to be in action for the United States and Canada at Copa America, with the latter set to feature in the competition opener against Argentina tomorrow in the early hours (01.00), live on Premier Sports.
Both will be hoping to achieve success on the international scene, but how long could they be away from Celtic? 67 Hail Hail takes a look so you don’t have to.
Cameron Carter-Vickers and Alistair Johnston at Copa America
Using the timezone present in this part of the world, Copa America runs from June 21st until July 15th, when the final will be held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, in what will be a mouthwatering showpiece occasion.
Now, the group stage runs from tomorrow in the early hours until July 3rd. Canada take on Argentina, Peru and Chile for a place in the knockout stages; meanwhile, the United States do battle with Bolivia, Panama and Uruguay.
It isn’t an exact science; nevertheless, if either team is eliminated at that phase, Johnston or Carter-Vickers would be given at least a couple of weeks off to recover.
Should they make it to the quarter-finals (scheduled between 5th and 7th July) or semi-finals (taking place on 10th or 11th July), apply the same logic as a rough estimate. Of course, any nation eliminated in the last four has to play a third-place play-off on the 14th. The final will be held a day later on the 15th.
Coincidentally, Celtic are in the host nation of Copa America, the United States, and play pre-season friendlies against DC United, Manchester City and Chelsea on July 20th, 23rd and 27th in different locations.
Before that, the Bhoys face Ayr United and Queens Park away from home—two games the pair won’t be available to play in.
In short, depending on when either Canada or the United States do get knocked out, there is a small chance fans may see Johnston and Carter-Vickers towards the latter end of when the Bhoys go Stateside.
On the other hand, if they both go deep into the tournament, they may need a little more recuperation time ahead of the Scottish Premiership opening day on August 3rd.