With the international break coming up at the end of March, a lot of Celtic supporters keep an eye on which players have been selected to go and play for their national teams. For many, there is a feeling of trepidation when players play international football in the middle of a club season.
Indeed, it would be nothing new for some to get injured and miss crucial domestic fixtures. Meanwhile, other supporters see it as a coup for the club and an advantage in the transfer market, particularly in terms of adding to a player’s value or encouraging a star to stay. In that sense there is mixed news when it comes to the Japan and Scotland squad announcements.
Celtic players who have frequently been involved with the Scottish national team have been overlooked, such as David Turnbull. Turnbull may not have played a huge amount of football this season, but he has weighed in with five goals and as many assists.
His place has been taken by the likes of Billy Gilmour who has only played 334 minutes this season, without registering a goal or assist in the Premier League at Brighton. In terms of Greg Taylor, Scotland boss Steve Clarke has explained that he did wish to select him but Celtic informed him that the player is nursing an injury. Meanwhile, Anthony Ralston has barely featured over the last three months so he wouldn’t be in contention at present.
The real disappointed members of the Celtic squad this morning must be Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi. The pair were snubbed by the Japan manager for the World Cup in December, and they’ve been overlooked again.
Kyogo has scored 13 more goals than any other Japanese striker this term and he has bagged three goals in effectively two matches against theRangers this season (he only played one minute of the first Derby game back in September). He has also shown that he can find the net at a higher level, having done so in the Europa League last year.
As for Reo Hatate, he has shone in Champions League fixtures this year, he is getting better and better with each game and is another player who will make the player of the year shortlist at Parkhead. Therefore, the Japan manager’s comments were utterly bizarre this morning, not least because he continues to pick Daizen Maeda who plies his trade in the same league as Kyogo and Hatate!
Japan manager, Moriyasu said: “I’ve watched all of Celtic’s games and seen what they’ve (Kyogo and Hatate) accomplished and their presence in the team. But there’s no bar to clear to be called up; it’s a comprehensive decision, we think about the level of the league and various other factors when making the decision. For this squad we focused on the squad from Qatar as well as some new players. There will be other call-ups. As I said, we’re trying to build the strongest team possible ahead of 2026.”
Moriyasu’s dig at the Scottish League doesn’t stand to scrutiny when J League players are found within his roster, along with Maeda. There have also been a number of Celtic players who have performed well on the international stage in recent times, not least Josip Juranovic who was one of Croatia’s star performers on their march to the World Cup Semi Final. Clearly players can adjust to the higher standard of football on an international stage.
Moriyasu did allude to the fact that both Kyogo and Hatate could add something but he wants to build for the future. The pair are in their mid 20s so you’d have to think they have major tournaments in them. Having missed out on the world cup, friendlies such as these upcoming fixtures would be a good time to include them. Otherwise it doesn’t bode well for the qualifiers in late 2023.
As Celtic supporters we can receive this news with mixed views. Selfishly, it is positive that neither superstar will risk injury during the break. They’ll be fresh for important League and Cup fixtures against theRangers which come in April. On the flip side, they may view the national team boss’ comments as a requirement to leave Celtic and prove themselves in a stronger league. When they do eventually depart, hopefully a long way into the future, a lack of international football can diminish a player’s transfer value – or at least deny it the chance to be enhanced.
So, it’s with mixed feelings that we learn of the squad selections today. It is good and bad news for Celtic. Hopefully the players get their chance in the future, while those selected return free of injury ahead of crunch domestic games.
Liam Kelly
🇯🇵 | Japan National Team
Only Daizen Maeda has been selected by Japan boss Hajime Moriyasu for their upcoming fixtures.
There's no place for Kyogo or Hatate despite impressive campaigns. pic.twitter.com/hufEo9S3fa
— Everything Celtic (@aboutceltic) March 15, 2023
Japan strikers goal record:
Kyogo – 26 ⚽
Nishimura – 13 ⚽
Asano – 2 ⚽
Ueda – 14 ⚽
Machino – 15 ⚽It's utter madness Kyogo is the one on this list not selected, you've got to feel for him.
What else can he do?! pic.twitter.com/Jrebo293JZ
— Everything Celtic (@aboutceltic) March 15, 2023
Former Celtic captain Scott Brown spoke to the Celtic fan media yesterday including of course The Celtic Star. Here’s what happened, a really enjoyable half hour with Broony talking to Celtic supporters with not a hack in sight…
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