Celtic star Daizen Maeda has revealed that he’s still pinching himself after the striker added to a whirlwind year by helping his country to a seismic win over Germany at the World Cup.
This time last year, Maeda was helping Yokohama F. Marinos to 2nd in the J-League, as well as winning a Japanese golden boot, before his January move to Glasgow to join his old manager Ange Postecoglou.
Maeda was his usual tireless self against Germany, haring after lost causes and harassing Hansi Flick’s defenders before being replaced on the hour, and the striker has claimed that he’s as surprised as anyone by the trajectory his career has taken, having nearly opened the scoring against the 2014 World Cup champions only to be denied by an offside.
As reported by Soccer King (translated using DeepL Translate), he said after the Germany win: ‘Of course I didn’t imagine myself starting on that pitch four years ago, and I didn’t imagine it even in the last year or so. Yesterday I really felt that four years can change your football life and one year can change it. I hope I can continue like this.
“We conceded a goal, but when we conceded it, we talked as a team about keeping the score at one, and we all had a common awareness of that, so we held out and won the game. We played with a common awareness as a team to keep the score at one when we lost the game, so we persevered and won the game.
“The team was aiming for that and although we were offside, I think it’s true that we got the momentum going with that. I was watching the game not as a fan anymore, but I just wanted them to win. Of course, I thought I should have scored in that situation. If I get another chance next time, I want to aim for it again, so I’ll do my best to get it right next time.
Though the Germany result was one of the biggest upsets of the World Cup so far, Maeda insisted that the result would only be meaningful if they can follow it up with a result against Costa Rica today.
He said: “If we don’t win the next game, I don’t think it will mean anything if we win against Germany. As a team, we are aware of how important the next game is, so I want to make sure we win.”
Of course, Maeda was the only one of Celtic’s Japanese contingent to be selected for the World Cup squad, with particular bewilderment expressed from many corners of Glasgow at the exclusion of Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate, who have been two of Celtic’s best players so far this season.
Though he hasn’t been given the nod by Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu for today’s game against Costa Rica, Maeda will no doubt be hoping to get a run-out against tired legs from the bench at some stage.
Japan conclude their Group E campaign on Thursday against Spain, with the Samurai Blue hoping that Luis Enrique’s side will already have qualified for the knockout stage by then.
In other news: Ex-Celtic star backs cult hero to shine despite exciting transfer report
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