Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu has been to Glasgow as part of a tour to touch base with Japan’s European based players ahead of crunch World Cup qualifying games next month against Australia and Vietnam in Sydney and Saitama.
And according to a report in Scottish Sun he has delivered some good and bad news for Celtic supporters, following a meeting with Ange Postecoglou and Michael Nicholson.
Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu has finished his scouting tour in Europe.
On Kyogo Furuhashi: “He wasn’t able to play yet but his rehab is going well.” https://t.co/YzQPQop3a3
— Dan Orlowitz | home but still writing #Beijing2022 (@aishiterutokyo) February 25, 2022
On the one hand Kyogo Furuhashi it has been explained is progressing well during his ongoing re-hab, however he also let it be known discissions were had with both Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi, perhaps indicating both players are on the Japan manager’s radar for upcoming games.
“Kyogo Furuhashi is doing well in his recovery progress, but is not ready to play yet. His rehabilitation is going well. I’ll look at his situation nearer the qualifiers and consider whether I will call him up.
“I met with 13 players in Europe and I wanted to visit the players who weren’t in the last squad. Those included Yosuke Ideguchi and Reo Hatate from Celtic. There is limited time before the next two matches and I wanted to speak to as many of the players who could be in the squad as possible.
“I spoke with Ange Postecoglou too and the Celtic CEO. I am very proud of the success of Celtic’s Japanese players because they have been delighted with them. Ange told me he understood the importance of the matches and he had been impressed with the way the Japanese team is improving and how we work with players.”
It’s no shock to see Reo Hatate attracting international attention. Indeed, the only surprise, now we’ve seen the player in action since joining Celtic in January, is the he’s not yet been capped by Hajime Moriyasu – they must have a wealth of talent in that Japanese midfielder to overlook Hatate thus far.
That said, there will be no doubt one of the main reasons Hatate signed for Celtic was to emphasise to his national manager that his impressive abilities could translate to European football as well as they did in Japan. A couple of Glasgow Derby goals with a worldwide audience watching on will certainly have done that. As such even if a call-up doesn’t occur for this world cup qualifying double header, it will simply be a matter of when and not if for Reo Hatate.
Yosuke Ideguchi however will probably have to bide his time, as he is only now just returning from injury, with gametime a strong possibility at some stage against Hibs on Sunday, he too will be looking to show the Japanese manager he is worth considering for an international recall.
The good news however is the progress being made by Kyogo Furuhashi. Little in the way of medical updates are given by many clubs these days and Celtic are no different. To hear of progress via the Japanese manager is heart-warming stuff. As Celtic look to gain every advantage possible in the title run in, the return of Furuhashi would be a welcome injection of quality to Celtic’s attack as we approach the business end of the season.
Niall J
