Perplexing snub for Portsmouth keeper after outstanding Championship emergence

Nico Schmid was delivered a snub last night which will have Pompey fans scratching their heads in disbelief.

The outstanding keeper was surprisingly completely overlooked by his national team following his Austria call-up, after an outstanding maiden season at Fratton Park.

Schmid was rewarded for his flying form in the Championship since arriving in the English game from BW Linz last August, with selection for his country’s World Cup qualifying double header with Romania and San Marino.

But former Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick opted to completely leave the 28-year-old out of his 23-man squad, as Das Team picked up a comfortable 4-0 win over San Marino.

That follows on from Schmid being named as an unused substitute as Austria picked up a 2-1 win over Romania on Saturday, to make it two wins from two and leave them second in Group H after their opening qualifying fixtures.

Brondby’s Patrick Pentz was preferred to start both games, with Schmid, LASK’s Tobias Lawal and Wolfsberger’s Nikolas Polster the other keepers named in Rangnick’s squad.

Pentz is the established first choice for his country, with none of the other options having a senior cap going into the qualifiers.

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That changed as Lawal came on at the break, as the Austrian squad wore black armbands in Serravelle following the Graz school shooting where 11 lives were lost.

It was fairly comfortable 45 minutes for the 25-year-old, as he made one smart close-range save as Austria cruised to success.

There was no suggestion of an injury to Schmid, as he was apparently the keeper to be left out of the four selected for international duty.

That will raise eyebrows among the Fratton faithful, who know just how well the keeper has performed as one of the stars of Pompey’s season.

Schmid has continually made outstanding stops with his man-of-the-match performance in the win over champions Leeds in March, arguably the high point of his excellent season.

Certainly, the 400,000 Euro fee paid to secure the 6ft 5in man’s services is now looking a snip with his value soaring after a flying campaign, underlined by finishing third in the player of the season running.

Despite being overlooked, Schmid is celebrating in his personal life as he proposed to his partner - one of a number of Pompey players to marry or get engaged since the season’s end.

Limited Northern Ireland minutes for Pompey favourite

Terry Devlin was the other Blues player on senior duty across the period of international action over recent days, with the Pompey fans’ favourite afforded limited minutes.

Devlin was left on the bench for Northern Ireland’s 2-1 friendly defeat against Denmark on Saturday, with the former Glentoran man introduced in the 91st minute as his 10-man side held on to a 1-0 win over Iceland. Michael O’Neill’s side begin their World Cup qualifying campaign away to Luxembourg in September.

Midfielder Isaac Hayden, who has returned to parent club Newcastle United, started for Jamaica in their 3-0 World Cup qualifying victory against Guatemala overnight.

Pompey loanee Mark O’Mahony was in action for Republic of Ireland’s under-21 side last Friday. The Brighton loanee started in a 1-0 friendly reverse in Croatia.

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