Leeds United star ‘to win shock international call-up’ despite Farke snubs
Leeds United will look to secure another pair of back-to-back wins this Saturday when they take on Queens Park Rangers.
The trip to West London comes after another side from the capital in Millwall were beaten at Elland Road on Wednesday night (12 March), as Daniel Farke’s side recovered from the defeat at Portsmouth which brought an end to the 17-game league unbeaten run.
Farke will be desperate to gather further Championship momentum, as the international break is nearly upon us in what will be every manager’s biggest inconvenience at this point of the campaign.
Leeds United man receives shock first call-up
Several Leeds players are expected to depart across the world to join up with their respective national teams after the QPR trip, with the Whites not back in action afterwards until 29 March against Swansea City.
In the meantime, Farke will be without numerous members of his roster at Thorp Arch including, it appears, forgotten full-back Isaac Schmidt for Switzerland.
According to Blick (13 March), Swiss national team head coach Murat Yakin plans to include Schmidt in the senior squad for the first time, with the 25-year-old having not yet debuted for his country’s main side.
Schmidt joined Leeds last summer in a late-window deal from St Gallen, but has only played 20 minutes of Championship football all season.
The defender started in the 2-0 defeat to Millwall in the FA Cup last month, but has yet to start in the league and was not even named on the bench on Wednesday as Farke’s men avenged that defeat by Alex Neil’s team.
Despite being routinely snubbed by Farke, Schmidt will now potentially get his chance to impress.
Schmidt eager to prove point while away with Switzerland
With Schmidt’s call-up anticipated, the full-back will certainly have plenty on his mind regarding how he can make Farke take notice, with a perceived lack of trust from the Leeds boss.
An unused substitute for five games after the FA Cup exit, he was dropped out of the squad entirely in midweek and the highest number of minutes he has played in a league match was against Oxford United in December, brought on when the Whites already led 4-0.
It will not have been how Schmidt envisaged his first career chapter outside of Switzerland as he arrived for around £2.5million, but the Lausanne local will now potentially enjoy the proud moment of representing his country during a season he has been deprived of action.
| Isaac Schmidt – Leeds United | Appearances | Starts | Clean Sheets | Minutes |
| Championship | 7 | 0 | 5 | 20 |
| FA Cup | 2 | 2 | 1 | 180 |
A youth international for the Swiss while still a teenager, Schmidt has become used to being overlooked for the side, but Yakin is determined to give him a chance based on this week’s reports from Europe.
Switzerland face Northern Ireland at Windsor Park (21 March) before returning home to St Gallen to host Luxembourg (25 March) in friendly clashes.