Andy Halliday was amazed by an unseen moment from Daizen Maeda on Sunday.
A moment that definitely didn’t go unseen was Maeda’s incredible bicycle kick goal which put the Hoops out of sight on the day.
It was the second of a quickfire double from the forward, who put in an almighty shift as he so often does in a Celtic shirt.
He is blessed with remarkable natural fitness, and his sprinting capacity has often been praised as world class. Halliday, working on the game, couldn’t believe what he saw from the 28-year-old after full-time.
Is Daizen Maeda a Celtic legend?
Andy Halliday: Daizen Maeda felt ‘no effects whatsoever’ after Celtic win
The exchange with Pat Bonner, Tom English, Pat Nevin and Richard Gordon on BBC Sportsound went as follows:
Halliday: Just to finish on a little light-hearted note, if I may…
Halliday: Me and Pat are sitting in the gantry here, and we’re seeing 21 of the players hobbling out after what’s been a gruelling 90 minutes.
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Halliday: Daizen Maeda has just come out for a second round of football with his son, and he’s sprinting and taking the mickey out of his son’s stepovers.
Halliday: He’s by him, the lot. So we’re talking about his level of fitness, he’s not feeling the effects of the game, whatsoever.
Bonner: He’s just jogging into the goal, here, is there going to be a penalty?
English: I think they assembled him in a factory in Japan. He’s not human!
Nevin: I think he’s AI. He’s definitely the AI footballer.
Bonner: Can we not make a few more of them?
Gordon: Well, a few Scottish ones would be handy in terms of the national team… yeah. It’s a quiet Celtic Park there, just Daizen Maeda and one or two others. And, of course, our guys there who will be leaving soon.
Is Maeda’s overhead kick the best you’ve seen scored in a Glasgow Derby? If not, what was? 👀
Comment your answers below 👇
Daizen Maeda’s Celtic season so far
Maeda didn’t quite hit the heights in the season’s early stages – but his bombshell revelation that he wanted to leave Celtic gave something of an explanation for this.
In his first game after making his transfer request public, he scored a brilliant diving header against Kilmarnock, reassuring fans that he would still show full commitment in a Celtic jersey.
His next goal was another crucial header, a last-minute winner against Motherwell.
Only Benjamin Nygren now has more goals than Maeda’s total of 14, of which six have come in his last four appearances.
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