J League's brilliant tribute to Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi; but with a twist

By Patrick Sinat

May 24, 2023

The J League’s official Twitter account has paid tribute to Kyogo Furuhashi. Celtic’s Player of the Year was awarded the Scottish Premiership Player of the Season yesterday. And to honour the former J League star, the governing body released a video of Kyogo’s goal-scoring exploits.

But the goals that were posted were not for Celtic. Instead, the video was a collage of some of his goals for his former club, Vissel Kobe.

Furuhashi was a huge favourite at the J League side. He scored 49 goals in 111 appearances and created 18 assists during his time at the club. He also helped Vissel Kobe win the Japanese Cup and the Japanese Supercup before his £4.5m move to Celtic.

Kyogo still remains a huge fan favourite over in Japan. His exclusion from the Japan World Cup squad caused plenty of controversy and it seems that Hajime Moriyasu is coming under pressure to include him in his next upcoming national squad.

What is remarkable is the first goal that was shown was very reminiscent of Kyogo’s iconic winning goal in last season’s League Cup Final against Hibernian.

The Japanese striker lifted a cute lob over Hibs keeper, Matt Macey as the Celtic star netted a double to help bring the first piece of silverware back to Celtic Park.

That game was a springboard to Celtic eventually going on to win the league and Kyogo has picked up this season where he left off last season.

With 31 goals to his name, another double in this seasons League Cup Final against Rangers also helped retain the cup. And his 25 goals in the league have also contributed to Celtic’s incredible SPFL form.

All we need him to do now is show the same lethal instincts in front of goal in the Scottish Cup Final to help secure Celtic’s eighth domestic treble.

In other news, Report: Celtic in ‘constant exchanges’ with Eduvie Ikoba