Celtic striker Daizen Maeda was spoken about in the Japanese press today. Maeda was praised by his former teammate, Takuya Kida as the Yokohama F Marinos midfielder celebrated his goal for his club at the weekend.
Kida scored in Marinos’ 1-1 draw with Nagoya at the weekend. The draw helped keep Yokohama within four points of the leaders, Vissel Kobe at the top of the table and Kida offered some of the credit for his goal towards the Celtic striker.
Kida said, “I got a call from Daizen, a bit cheeky.
“I got a message from Daizen that I didn’t understand, but he wanted to buy me dinner to celebrate my goal when I got back to Japan. I thought, ‘No, it’s the other way round’. But he kept telling me.
“We had been practising shooting together for a long time, and the players who left (Yokohama) were always saying, ‘I want to see Keebo score goals’, so my teammates were happy, and that kind of attitude is the best thing.” [Soccer Digest]
It looks like Kida may not have to wait too long to buy Maeda dinner. With Celtic announcing that they are set to tour Japan this summer, Maeda will be in town for a week as the Hoops tour the region.
Maeda was pivotal in Celtic’s win over Rangers at the weekend and no doubt, as the season reaches it’s conclusion, the Japanese striker will have a big part to play in whether or not Celtic win the treble this season.
I hope Kida is watching on for some more tips.
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