Celtic signed off their Japan Tour with a 1-0 win over Gamba Osaka in Suita yesterday morning. Despite the 6-4 loss to Yokohama F Marinos, the tour will widely be regarded as a success both on and off the pitch.
The Japanese public really took Celtic to their hearts and gave our Japan contingent a homecoming welcome that showed just how loved they are back in their homeland.
But Gamba Osaka boss, Daniel Poyatos, was taken by two Celtic players in particular. Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda caught his attention. Poyatos was lavish in his praise of the Japanese duo and signed off his press conference with a tongue-in-cheek transfer comment about Kyogo.
Poyatos said [Soccer Digest], “[Daizen] Maeda is very good at creating space. At the same time, his pressing, the way he presses first, is a real threat.
“And as for [Kyogo] Furuhashi, he is a player with agility, the ability to exploit the space between the opposition lines and finish.”
“If Furuhashi comes to Gamba, he is always welcome.” [translated by Deep L]
Out of the two players, I think Maeda has impressed the most in the Japan Tour. His hattrick against Yokohama F Marinos and his link-up play with Liel Abada was superb and if it wasn’t for an unfortunate offside call by the assistant referee against Gamba Osaka, Maeda would have been on the scoresheet again.
Although Kyogo failed to find the back of the net in either of Celtic’s Japan Tour fixtures, the striker will be looking to make his mark in the final two pre-season matches before the season kicks off on the 5th of August.
Next up for Celtic is the pre-season fixture against Wolves in Dublin next Saturday and Brendan Rodgers will be looking for more of what he saw against Osaka when Celtic face the EPL side at the Aviva Stadium.
In other news, Reo Hatate on transfer rumours; identifies pre-season improvement the Celtic fans will love
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