Reo Hatate helps Japan qualify for AFC Asian Cup last 16, produces Celtic form

Add as preferred source on Google

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers will be aware of his absentee list due to five of his players being involved at the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar.

As we all know by now, Daizen Maeda, Hyeongyu Oh, Marco Tilio, Yang Hyun-jun and Reo Hatate travelled to the Gulf region earlier this month to participate in the tournament.

Despite missing out on their availability for the duration of January and potentially some of February, Rodgers will aspire for his missing players to return better for the experience in the second half of the campaign.

This weekend, Celtic take on Ross County in the Scottish Premiership and slight alterations are likely to be made to compensate; however, the Bhoys are on a five-match winning streak and will hope the occasion takes care of itself.

International honours are hard to come by and players who are involved from the Scottish champions could stand to make history, given that Japan and South Korea in particular are among the competition favourites.

Celtic’s Reo Hatate stars for Japan as they book knockout place

Japan managed to put their earlier woes in Group D behind them today after a shock defeat to Iraq on matchday two by securing a passage through to the last 16 following a comfortable 3-1 triumph over Indonesia [Evening Standard].

Hajime Moriyasu’s side are now safely into the knockout phase after a double from Feyenoord striker Ayase Ueda and an own goal from Justin Hubner cancelled out Sandy Walsh’s consolation effort at Al Thumama Stadium.

Nevertheless, Celtic fans will be intrigued to know that Hatate started the game for the Samurai Blue and put on a commendable display in the engine room.

According to Sofascore, the 26-year-old received a match rating of 7.6/10 for his display and it is easy to see why when delving into his key metrics.

In his 68 minutes on the field, the former Kawasaki Frontale man brought his club form to the international stage, creating one big chance, winning four out of five of his contested ground duels and completing 37 passes.

His teammate and compatriot Maeda also got on the field in the latter stages, though he only had 21 minutes to impact proceedings.

It is great to see Hatate back in a positive rhythm following a hamstring injury that had sidelined him since late October. Hopefully, he can return fit and firing alongside Maeda, ready to battle for the league title.