Schmeichel responds: ‘I’ve said what needs to be said’

Jakob Kløcker

Not much has been heard from him in recent months.

And this is despite the fact that he has been a huge topic of conversation in the Danish – and international – media.

The Danish national team goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has been subjected to fierce criticism, which came from the editorial columns of Ekstra Bladet, which called him both ‘stupid’, ‘heavy’ and someone who ‘looked like a polio child’ after Denmark’s away match against Portugal in March.

The Dane recently broke his silence to a British media outlet, and on Wednesday he responded to the column in an interview with B.T.

Photo: Armando Franca/AP/Ritzau Scanpix Show more Photo: Armando Franca/AP/Ritzau Scanpix

“I haven’t read it at all. And I haven’t given it a second thought. Because I had an injury that I had to think about quite a bit,” says Kasper Schmeichel and continues:

“So no… I have said what needs to be said about it. It is part of football.”

The 38-year-old national team star says that he has heard about the criticism from people, but he himself has not bothered to spend a single second on the column, which has otherwise drawn several headlines:

“You can choose whether you want to listen to it or not. And I learned quite early in my career that you – as far as possible – should only listen to your coach, teammates and those who know you.”

“Football is the biggest sport in the world. It is passion, joy and sadness. That is all. With passion there will always be great emotions and reactions. It is part of being in the biggest sport in the world,” concludes Kasper Schmeichel.

It was after Denmark’s Nations League defeat to Portugal that the Danish goalkeeper was subjected to the criticism in question.

Not much has been heard from him in recent months.

And this is despite the fact that he has been a huge topic of conversation in the Danish – and international – media.

Danish national team goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has been subjected to fierce criticism, which came from the editorial columns of Ekstra Bladet, which called him both ‘stupid’, ‘heavy’ and someone who ‘looked like a polio child’ after Denmark’s away match against Portugal in March.

The Dane recently broke his silence to a British media outlet, and on Wednesday he responded to the column in an interview with BT.

“I haven’t read it at all. And I haven’t given it a thought. Because I’ve had an injury that I had to think about quite a lot,” says Kasper Schmeichel and continues:

“So no… I’ve said what needs to be said about it. It’s part of football.”

The 38-year-old national team star says that he has heard about the criticism from people, but he himself has not bothered to spend a single second on the column, which has otherwise made several headlines:

“You can choose whether you want to listen to it or not. And I learned pretty early in my career that – as much as possible – you should only listen to your coach, teammates and those who know you.”

“Football is the biggest sport in the world. It’s passion, joy and sadness. That’s everything. With passion there will always be big emotions and reactions. That’s part of being in the biggest sport in the world,” concludes Kasper Schmeichel.

It was after Denmark’s Nations League defeat to Portugal that the Danish goalkeeper was subjected to the aforementioned criticism.