It may have escaped your attention but Celtic made a bit of history with regards to our Japan contingent on Sunday.
The Hoops were 4-1 winners against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park with Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda netting the opening two goals.
The pair were joined in the starting line-up by compatriots Yuki Kobayashi and Tomoki Iwata.
It’s the first time Ange Postecoglou has fielded a starting XI with four Japanese players involved. And that was with Reo Hatate missing the game.
It’s also a first for Celtic in our history, while it seems very unlikely that any other Scottish side has managed it in theirs.
It’s great news, especially when Maeda, Kyogo and Hatate have become such important players for us, and Kobayashi and Iwata have shown real early promise.
There will surely be a time in the not too distant future when all five start the same match.
And that number may increase further should Postecoglou decide to dip his toes back in to the Japanese market, where he managed between 2018 and 2021.
Back in January 2022, the Hoops boss was keen for people not to simply group his players together because of their nationality.
With Kyogo, Maeda, Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi on our books at the time, he said: “We have to be careful about just saying ‘four Japanese players’. These are four individuals, they are totally different people.
“If you ever get the chance to meet them you will see they are totally different people, totally different kinds of players.” (The Scotsman)
Celtic fans certainly view our Japanese contingent as individuals now. The growing influence from the the land of the rising sun is something to be celebrated.
In other news, Cameron Carter-Vickers may not play too many more games for Celtic this seaso
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