After demonstrating that he belongs at the highest level, Leicester City veteran Kasper Schmeichel has stated that he is eager to watch how his international understudy and current Foxes custodian Mads Hermansen develops over the next several years.
Both Hermansen and Schmeichel are presently on the road with the Danish national team, which defeated Portugal 1-0 in their Nations League match on Thursday night while maintaining a clean sheet.
The 38-year-old, who has 112 caps for Denmark and was named his nation’s footballer of the year in 2016, 2019, and 2020, played in nearly 500 games for City and took home four different awards during his tenure at the King Power Stadium. Schmeichel, who remains the Red and Whites’ top player, is witnessing the next generation up close.
Over the previous several international breaks, the current Celtic custodian, who was reunited with Brendan Rodgers this past season, has worked with both Hermansen and Chelsea goalie Filip Jorgensen. He is thrilled about the upcoming generation of talent that will eventually replace him.
Schmeichel remains first choice, while Hermansen, who is 14 years Schmeichel’s junior, has yet to earn a full international cap. Nevertheless, the veteran is confident that his country is in good hands when he ends his international career.
Schmeichel told Danish publication Bold, “Both Mads Hermansen and Filip Jorgensen have impressed and proven that they belong on the top shelf.” Given that they are two incredibly gifted goalkeepers, it is encouraging for Danish football’s future and I hope to see more of them in the future.
“All of the players on the national team should play, in my opinion. They have nothing to do here else. I wanted to be in goal from the first day I joined the national team. That debut was a long time coming. It’s part of the game that I had to wait for a number of years.
This season, Hermansen has been the starting player under Steve Cooper and Ruud Van Nistelrooy; however, a groin injury sustained halfway through the season allowed Danny Ward and Jakub Stolarczyk to play.
Eight players are now away from City during the international break, including Hermansen. Jordan Ayew, who is captaining Ghana and scored in their 5-0 victory over Chad on Friday to qualify for the World Cup, is also gone.
Bobby Decordova-Reid is with Jamaica, Ward is with Wales, and Wout Faes is with Belgium. Center-half Jannik Vestergaard is also with Hermansen in the Denmark camp. Bilal El Khannouss scored the game-winning goal in Morocco’s 2-1 victory over Niger on Friday, while Wilfred Ndidi is representing his home country of Nigeria.
