It has to be said, this international window for Celtic’s Japanese players has been a relative success.
Kyogo Furuhashi added two caps and a goal to his collection and Reo Hatate started both games against Peru and El Salvador.
And this afternoon, it was Daizen Maeda’s turn to show what he was capable of with a well-taken goal against Peru.
The Celtic winger scored his third goal for his country and here he describes how he went about his expertly taken finish.
Maeda said [Chunichi], “I wasn’t sure whether to loop it or take a normal shot, but if I had looped it, I probably would have missed it, so I didn’t get fancy.
“I didn’t get fancy, and I hit the goalkeeper, but I think it showed my character.” [translated by Deep L]
It certainly did show his character and it’s one we are all familiar with. Maeda is a cool customer when it comes to one-on-one situations with goalkeepers.
The Celtic fans will remember his brilliantly taken goal in the New Year Glasgow Derby that opened the scoring in the 2-2 draw at Ibrox. Cool as a cucumber he was. You can watch his goal for Japan here.
And he repeated it again this afternoon for his country. All of Celtic’s players can be proud of their contribution to their country’s demolition of Peru and El Salvador.
Japan’s next fixture is against Germany in September this year. Hansi Flick’s men will undoubtedly be a sterner test than what the Samurai Blues have experienced so far. And Celtic’s bhoys will be eagerly looking forward to that fixture.
What is for sure though is that Kyogo, Hatate and Maeda have certainly left Hajime Moriyasu in no doubt that they all deserve to be part of Japan’s plans moving forward.
In other news, Celtic make a brilliant offer to season ticket holders; dates are booking up fast
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