Kyogo has now been told why he was left out of Japan’s Asian Cup squad

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Kyogo was surely left gutted when informed he did not make the cut for Japan’s final 2023 AFC Asian Cup squad.

The tournament in Qatar kicks off in January and will run through until the final on February 10. Celtic have five of their players heading to the competition, those being Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda, Oh, Yang and Marco Tilio.

Celtic fans and Brendan Rodgers will be delighted Kyogo has been left in Glasgow because it means he won’t miss the restart of the Scottish football calendar following the winter break.

And unlike Hatate and Maeda, there will be a lower risk of Kyogo picking up an injury over the next few weeks. But the Japanese striker has missed out on a chance to represent his country at a major tournament and that is never nice for a player to deal with.

Kyogo was omitted from the 2022 World Cup Japan squad and while he picked up a few caps recently, his last coming in November against Myanmar, Samurai Blue manager Hajime Moriyasu has decided against bolstering his attacking options for the Asian Cup with the Hoops favourite.

But why exactly? Well, Moriyasu has now publicly explained the decision.

Kyogo Japan snub explained

Freelance journalist Mark Walker has picked up quotes from Moriyasu after he watched his Japan side hammer Jordan 6-1 in a friendly before they kick-off their Asian Cup campaign against Vietnam on Sunday.

As quoted in the Glasgow Times, Moriyasu provided some reasons for why Kyogo was ignored. He said: “It was extremely difficult. It’s just really painful to make decisions like these.

“On the one hand, as manager of Japan. I am delighted we have such a deep squad depth and we could probably pick two or three teams who could compete competitively on the world stage.

“And that will only increase as we have a lot of good, young players coming through.

“But it makes my job very, very hard. Regarding the criteria for this tournament, I went for the ones I thought had the most individual strength.

“I wanted players who can overcome situations individually and have to have the ability to connect with people and work together with those around them.

“We picked players who can improve their abilities not only by themselves, but also by working with their team-mates.”

Kyogo is the ultimate professional and team player, which Celtic supporters have become accustomed to. The striker is a humble man and any suggestions he wouldn’t be able to work as well within the Japan group as others is rubbish.

However, we’re just pleased the main man is sticking around at Lennoxtown this month because he’s going to be extremely important for our league and cup double ambitions this season.