Celtic forward Daizen Maeda enjoyed a proud moment on familiar soil, captaining Japan to a 1-0 friendly victory over Scotland at Hampden Park on Saturday.
With the 2026 World Cup rapidly approaching, Celtic’s tireless attacker was handed the armband and played in a left-sided wing-back role for his country.
While the defeat frustrated Steve Clarke’s side, the Celtic Park faithful will be thrilled to see their own player taking on such a massive international leadership role in a country he can probably call his second home.
67 Hail Hail has assessed Maeda’s underlying numbers against Scotland, as he played just over an hour.
Name your three best Japanese players to have represented Celtic?
Some cult heroes from Japan have worn that famous shirt!
Daizen Maeda’s numbers as Japan beat Scotland at Hampden
Maeda has struggled this season, and he is looking for that spark to not just ignite Celtic’s title chances, but his own form heading into the 2026 World Cup.
You have a situation where Reo Hatate missed out on Japan selection, and many Celtic fans will tell you that if Maeda was also in that boat, then he couldn’t have argued.
But it’s perhaps a huge sign that Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu provided him with the captain’s armband because it probably indicates that he will earn his ticket to world football’s biggest stage this summer.
Nonetheless, Japan were the better side against a flat and defensive-minded Scotland team, with the visitors showcasing speed and energy in the final third.
Unfortunately for Maeda, he couldn’t find that rhythm to really hurt a very poor Scotland team, but they did score their goal six minutes from time when Junya Ito slotted the ball past Celtic’s Kieran Tierney inside the box.
Nonetheless, in typical Maeda style, the relentless workrate was on show, including some strong defensive contributions, but he just lacked that smoothness in the final third.
- Minutes played: 62
- Total shots: 1
- Key passes: 1
- Passes in the opposition half: 9/12 (75%)
- Touches: 32
- Was fouled: 1
- Defensive contributions: 10
- Tackles won: 1
- Interceptions: 1
- Blocked shots: 1
- Recoveries: 4
- Ground duels won: 4
- Sofascore rating: 7.0
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