The international break is generally a time when football fans lose interest in the game. But when the break is in the close season, all eyes are on the Celtic players who are all representing their countries over the next ten days.
This morning, Japan took on El Salvador in the second last game of the Kirin Cup. Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furhashi and Reo Hatate are all participating in the match-day squad, but only Hatate started the match with Kyogo and Maeda settling for a place on the bench.
At 5-0 up, Japan brought on Celtic striker, Kyogo Furuhashi on the 65th minute. It only took the red-hot Hoops striker five minutes to do this:
In a 6-0 rout, the Samurai Blues destroyed the South American side. A goal in the first minute was quickly followed up by a penalty and automatic red card and the Japanese raced into a two-goal lead in the first five minutes.
And Kyogo capped off the win with that fine header. That was Kyogo’s fourth goal in seventeen appearances for Japan and didn’t he take it well? The Celtic fans have witnessed the 28-year-old put these kinds of chances away for fun over the last two seasons.
Despite his relatively small size, Kyogo certainly can leap when a chance presents itself. It’s little wonder teams from across Europe are keeping tabs on him when he is so lethal in front of goal. You have to wonder how different it could have been for Japan in the World Cup if Kyogo was there.
Japan are still to face Peru in the final match of the tournament. The game will take place next Tuesday and hopefully, we will see more of the Celtic trio representing, and scoring, for Japan in the next fixture.
In other news, Talksport pundit destroys Brendan Rodgers narrative; Celtic support have good days ahead
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