Celtic are set to have a few representatives at next summer’s World Cup.
Of course, we aren’t used to having representatives from Scotland, but thanks to Kieran Tierney, that’s set to change.
Irish fans could end their wait too, after their hopes were kept alive by Troy Parrott in Budapest – with the help of Liam Scales.
Sebastian Tounekti’s Tunisia, Daizen Maeda’s Japan and Marcelo Saracchi’s Uruguay have all also booked their place.
And in preparation for the tournament, a brilliant friendly has been all-but announced which will see several Hoops men in Glasgow.
Would it be the right decision for Callum McGregor to return to the Scotland squad for next summer’s World Cup?
Celtic fans set to see Daizen Maeda’s Japan in Glasgow for World Cup preparation
Tierney and Maeda look set to face off at Hampden in March.
That’s after the manager of the Samurai Blue, Hajime Moriyasu, all-but confirmed the friendly with the Japanese media.
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A friendly between England and Japan was announced last week, in what will be a fascinating game at Wembley.
And Moriyasu said on it: “In addition to playing in England, we will also play against a country who are very close to them.
“I have spent the past week touring the USA to look at bases before the World Cup and preparations are ongoing.”
If you’re thinking, “What if it’s Wales or Ireland?” Both of those sides (as well as Northern Ireland) have play-offs to contend with in March, so can’t plan friendlies in preparation for the World Cup.
So unless Moriyasu fancies a friendly against the Isle of Man, it looks like they’ll be heading to Glasgow.
This would be the fourth match between the sides – Scotland have never won, with two goalless draws and a 2-0 win for Japan in Yokohama in 2009. Shunsuke Nakamura was on the bench that day.
Reo Hatate faces an uphill battle if he is to make it into the squad alongside Maeda, after being left out of the last few selections.
Should Celtic still be shopping in the J-League market?
Celtic’s Japanese players
When Nakamura came to Glasgow in 2005, the Celts gained a lot of new fans over in Asia. Koki Mizuno, who joined two-and-a-half years later, sadly couldn’t make the same impact.
There were no more until J-League winner Ange Postecoglou took Celtic by storm in 2021, largely thanks to the incredible impact of Kyogo Furuhashi as well as Maeda and Hatate.
Postecoglou also brought Tomoki Iwata, Yosuke Ideguchi and Yuki Kobayashi to Glasgow, to more varied degrees of success.
This summer, Shin Yamada and Hayato Inamura were added to the list of J-League imports, but they certainly don’t look like getting international call-ups any time soon…
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