Celtic eras collided in Yokohama on Tuesday as Brendan Rodgers and Shunsuke Nakamura met.
The pair were both at the iconic Nissan Stadium. Rodgers was there to lead Celtic first-team training while Nakamura was a special guest at a media and supporter event earlier in the day.
When Celtic ventured over to Japan, many supporters may have expected the former midfielder to play some sort of a role.
They may have hoped to see Naka united with the likes of Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi — which was the case. But a meeting with Rodgers would hardly have been on anyone’s mind.
Between them, Rodgers and Nakamura have lifted 13 major trophies with Celtic. They have also been part of major nights in the past, bringing us great memories in the Champions League against teams from Manchester.
Celtic shared the class image on Twitter with the pair shaking hands. With 6,000 likes on Twitter alone, it’s fair to say that the image has gone down well.
We didn’t know we needed to see two important figures from Celtic’s 21st century together. But now we have, it kind of feels right.
Rodgers and Celtic will return to the stadium tomorrow for a game against Nakamura’s old side Yokohama F. Marinos.
It should be a good test against the reigning J1 League champions and a side who are in the midst of their season.
Kick-off is at 7pm in Japan. That means an 11am start in Scotland.
In other news, three current Celtic players that could flourish under Brendan Rodgers
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