Gibraltar part-timers Lincoln stun Celtic

AFP, PARIS: Scottish giants Celtic crashed to a 1-0 Champions League defeat to Lincoln Red Imps on Tuesday with the goal scored by Lee Casciaro, a policeman in his day job.
Manager Brendan Rodgers’ first competitive match in charge was a humiliating affair, with 34-year-old Casciaro inflicting the hammer blow in the 48th minute.
“Surreal, it’s what people dream about, beating a big club like Celtic, we’ve done it here,” the match winner told Sky Sports.
“Getting the winning goal is something that will be with me for the rest of my life,” he added.
“Historic result for our club tonight. A brave performance by our lads has delivered a dream result. Well done to all!” Lincoln tweeted.
This was one of 1967 European champions’ Celtic’s worst ever defeats in the competition, and it left the Hoops counting on turning the second qualifying tie around in the return leg at Parkhead next week.
For Rodgers it was the worst possible start to his Celtic career, the former Liverpool boss having replaced Ronny Deila in May.
Celtic turned up in Gibraltar for their first competitive fixture of the season as overwhelming favourites against their semi-professional opponents who also included a taxi driver, a fireman in their line-up.
“It’s (football) like a hobby for us,” Casciaro said.
Named in honour of English lower-league club Lincoln City, Gibraltar’s Red Imps have dominated the domestic game in recent times, much like Celtic, winning the last 14 league championships.
Casciaro, who works for the Gibraltar Defence Police, author of the decisive goal in Lincoln’s 2-1 win over Andorran outfit Santa Coloma in the first qualifying round last week.
Celtic struggled in the heat and then got caught out by Casciaro, scorer of Gibraltar’s first international goal against Scotland at Hampden in 2015, who scored from 12 yards.
The visitor’s Leigh Griffiths hit the woodwork twice and French striker Moussa Dembele, making his competitive debut on his 20th birthday, had a goal disallowed after the half hour mark.
Celtic, aiming to return to the Champions League group stages for the first time since 2013/2014, had arrived at the Victoria Stadium nestling at the foot of the peninsula’s famous rock unbeaten in their four warm-up matches.
But despite sustained late pressure Lincoln held out for a famous victory in front of a crowd of around 2,000.
Rodgers tried to inject a sense of realism to the topsy turvy outcome.
“There is no embarrassment,” he said.
“It was a tough game in tough conditions. We didn’t take our chances, they took their chance.
“We have seen enough to see that we can get through in the second leg. Of course you are disappointed to lose.
“The result here complicates it a bit for us. We move on to next week.”
Celtic, who have lost in the final play-off round for the past two seasons, will still fancy rescuing he tie on home soil.
But Casciaro for one is not ruling out another upset in Glasgow.
“We know it’s going to be completely different at Celtic Park, with 50-60,000 people, but hopefully we can make an upset over there.”
“What just happened? We came we fought we won! @LincolnRedImps nothing is impossible! Bring on Celltic Park” added his brother, shipping agent Kyle, on Twitter.
On his appointment in May Rodgers had listed one of his objectives at Celtic as “making an impact on European football” - Tuesday’s result certainly did that, but not in the way he had ever envisaged.
Meanwhile, “Shock of Gibraltar” will be a headline the humiliated players and their manager Brendan Rodgers, who will wish to forget his first competitive game in charge, will see screaming from several newspapers after they lost 1-0 in their Champions League qualifier first leg.
Regardless of being able to put matters right next week back in Glasgow for the second leg, the papers were as one in saying this result will not be forgotten.
Leading the charge was the never reserved tabloid The Sun: “Rodgered by a Copper — Rodgers suffers humiliating ‘Shock of Gibraltar’ defeat in first game in charge,” went the headline. “A copper” referred to the goalscorer, 34-year-old policeman Lee Casciaro.
But at least there was a minor consolation for the 300 or so Celtic fans who had travelled to a game that was predicted to be a walkover for the cosseted millionaires from Glasgow against a team whose line-up had done their day job before playing the game.
“It was the club’s worst result in their history but travelling Bhoys (Celtic) fans were fortunate to be only a one hundred metres or so away from the airport to escape the embarrassment against the part-timers,” wrote the Sun.
The Daily Mail didn’t spare the Scottish team nor former Liverpool boss Rodgers, who surprised many in taking the job in May as he was thought to be in the running for several in the Premier League were they to become vacant.
“Rodgers rocked! Celtic beaten by butchers bakers and candlestick makers,” the Mail said.
The Mail did at least offer some sympathy to Rodgers about the task he had ahead of him in sorting out the problems.
“And Brendan Rodgers was brought in to avoid the recent trend of early-season European embarrassments? Right. Upon closer inspection, the problems clearly run too deep for one man, given one pre-season, to put right.”
The Mail suggests Rodgers might have to resort to extreme measures to rectify matters.
“If Rodgers already suspected he had taken on a major rebuilding job, now he knows. He may even have decided that complete demolition of the existing structure is required.”
Scottish paper The Daily Record weren’t any kinder in comparing the population of Gibraltar to the capacity at Celtic’s ground in Glasgow.
“To put it in to some context, the entire population of Gibraltar could fit in to Celtic Park - and there would still be no need to open the top tier.”
The Daily Record observed that one of Rodgers’ claims that they weren’t taking the task lightly had come horribly true.
“Rodgers said he was treating the Imps like they were Barcelona - well, his side made the policemen and customs officials look like Barcelona.”

 

Gibraltar part-timers Lincoln stun Celtic

AFP, PARIS: Scottish giants Celtic crashed to a 1-0 Champions League defeat to Lincoln Red Imps on Tuesday with the goal scored by Lee Casciaro, a policeman in his day job. Manager Brendan Rodgers first competitive match in charge was a humiliating affair, with 34-year-old Casciaro inflicting the hammer blow in the 48th minute. Surreal, its what people dream about, beating a big club like Celtic, weve done it here, the match winner told Sky Sports. Getting the winning goal is something that will be with me for the rest of my life, he added. Historic result for our club tonight. A brave performance by our lads has delivered a dream result. Well done to all! Lincoln tweeted. This was one of 1967 European champions Celtics worst ever defeats in the competition, and it left the Hoops counting on turning the second qualifying tie around in the return leg at Parkhead next week. For Rodgers it was the worst possible start to his Celtic career, the former Liverpool boss having replaced Ronny Deila in May. Celtic turned up in Gibraltar for their first competitive fixture of the season as overwhelming favourites against their semi-professional opponents who also included a taxi driver, a fireman in their line-up. Its (football) like a hobby for us, Casciaro said. Named in honour of English lower-league club Lincoln City, Gibraltars Red Imps have dominated the domestic game in recent times, much like Celtic, winning the last 14 league championships. Casciaro, who works for the Gibraltar Defence Police, author of the decisive goal in Lincolns 2-1 win over Andorran outfit Santa Coloma in the first qualifying round last week. Celtic struggled in the heat and then got caught out by Casciaro, scorer of Gibraltars first international goal against Scotland at Hampden in 2015, who scored from 12 yards. The visitors Leigh Griffiths hit the woodwork twice and French striker Moussa Dembele, making his competitive debut on his 20th birthday, had a goal disallowed after the half hour mark. Celtic, aiming to return to the Champions League group stages for the first time since 2013/2014, had arrived at the Victoria Stadium nestling at the foot of the peninsulas famous rock unbeaten in their four warm-up matches. But despite sustained late pressure Lincoln held out for a famous victory in front of a crowd of around 2,000. Rodgers tried to inject a sense of realism to the topsy turvy outcome. There is no embarrassment, he said. It was a tough game in tough conditions. We didnt take our chances, they took their chance. We have seen enough to see that we can get through in the second leg. Of course you are disappointed to lose. The result here complicates it a bit for us. We move on to next week. Celtic, who have lost in the final play-off round for the past two seasons, will still fancy rescuing he tie on home soil. But Casciaro for one is not ruling out another upset in Glasgow. We know its going to be completely different at Celtic Park, with 50-60,000 people, but hopefully we can make an upset over there. What just happened? We came we fought we won! @LincolnRedImps nothing is impossible! Bring on Celltic Park added his brother, shipping agent Kyle, on Twitter. On his appointment in May Rodgers had listed one of his objectives at Celtic as making an impact on European football - Tuesdays result certainly did that, but not in the way he had ever envisaged. Meanwhile, Shock of Gibraltar will be a headline the humiliated players and their manager Brendan Rodgers, who will wish to forget his first competitive game in charge, will see screaming from several newspapers after they lost 1-0 in their Champions League qualifier first leg. Regardless of being able to put matters right next week back in Glasgow for the second leg, the papers were as one in saying this result will not be forgotten. Leading the charge was the never reserved tabloid The Sun: Rodgered by a Copper Rodgers suffers humiliating Shock of Gibraltar defeat in first game in charge, went the headline. A copper referred to the goalscorer, 34-year-old policeman Lee Casciaro. But at least there was a minor consolation for the 300 or so Celtic fans who had travelled to a game that was predicted to be a walkover for the cosseted millionaires from Glasgow against a team whose line-up had done their day job before playing the game. It was the clubs worst result in their history but travelling Bhoys (Celtic) fans were fortunate to be only a one hundred metres or so away from the airport to escape the embarrassment against the part-timers, wrote the Sun. The Daily Mail didnt spare the Scottish team nor former Liverpool boss Rodgers, who surprised many in taking the job in May as he was thought to be in the running for several in the Premier League were they to become vacant. Rodgers rocked! Celtic beaten by butchers bakers and candlestick makers, the Mail said. The Mail did at least offer some sympathy to Rodgers about the task he had ahead of him in sorting out the problems. And Brendan Rodgers was brought in to avoid the recent trend of early-season European embarrassments? Right. Upon closer inspection, the problems clearly run too deep for one man, given one pre-season, to put right. The Mail suggests Rodgers might have to resort to extreme measures to rectify matters. If Rodgers already suspected he had taken on a major rebuilding job, now he knows. He may even have decided that complete demolition of the existing structure is required. Scottish paper The Daily Record werent any kinder in comparing the population of Gibraltar to the capacity at Celtics ground in Glasgow. To put it in to some context, the entire population of Gibraltar could fit in to Celtic Park - and there would still be no need to open the top tier. The Daily Record observed that one of Rodgers claims that they werent taking the task lightly had come horribly true. Rodgers said he was treating the Imps like they were Barcelona - well, his side made the policemen and customs officials look like Barcelona.