Kyogo Furuhashi this afternoon tweeted a motivational “ready” message ahead of Japan vs Australia, and it’s fair to say it was bombarded with Celtic fans delivering one key message.
In the last international break back in September, Kyogo picked up a knock that would keep him out for a month. He only returned to action in the recent 4-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen at Celtic Park.
Therefore, naturally, there’s a fear over what may happen tomorrow in their must-win World Cup qualifier against Australia. The Japanese go into the game with manager Hajime Moriyasu under severe pressure. This will be played at anything but a friendly intensity.
And for Celtic fans the goal is simple. Get through tomorrow’s game with no injuries to Kyogo and Australia’s Tom Rogic and we can consider it job done. Regardless of who takes the spoils.
It doesn’t matter how long either player plays for or whether they even perform well on the day. Celtic fans just want it all over with so we can shift our focus back on to the domestic scene.
Celtic know how damaging a Kyogo Furuhashi injury will be
This isn’t just a case of hoping a first-team player gets through an international game without picking up an injury. We’re effectively watching our entire attacking threat go into danger against Australia.
During Kyogo’s absence last month, the wheels came off the bus a tad. We lost 4-3 in Betis before toothless attacking displays against Livingston and Dundee Utd cost us badly in the Premiership. This was simply down to the fact we didn’t create enough chances against either.
Granted, we would all hope that Giorgos Giakoumakis is back fit and firing for the return of domestic duty. He certainly has plenty to prove after more than a month since signing for the Hoops. But we can hardly rely on him at the moment, and the supporters know they can only invest their faith in Kyogo just now.
So tomorrow is a big day for Celtic fans with several other key players involved in international action. But there’s no denying Japan vs Australia will catch the eye tomorrow morning.
And here, we take a look at the reaction of the Hoops supporters to Kyogo’s tweet this afternoon:
In other news, Croatian playmaker Kristijan Lovric continuing to shine after Celtic summer link
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
