Japan will take on Bahrain on Thursday 20 March then Saudi Arabia on Tuesday 25 March, with a chance to secure their eighth consecutive FIFA World Cup appearance by beating Bahrain…
The Japan squad for these crucial qualifiers was named earlier today with both Celtic stars Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate both included, as indeed is our former striker Kyogo Furuhashi who is currently unable to get any game-time at his new club Rennes.
Kyogo left Celtic to pursue a World Cup dream
Kyogo’s last involvement for Celtic before his £10m switch to French football, was against Switzerland’s champions Young Boys in the UEFA Champions League. Kyogo was clearly established as Celtic’s top striker and there is every chance that he would have played in Celtic’s remaining group stage match at Villa Park against Aston Villa and then in the play-off matches against Bayern Munich.
Kyogo was advised to move to a top five league
That’s elite level football, as high a standard as it comes in club football anywhere in the world. Yet Kyogo’s new agent, who also represents the Japan National Coach Hajime Moriyasu, got it into Kyogo’s head that he’d have to move to a Top Five league if he was going to fulfil his dream of playing for Japan in a World Cup Finals.
Kyogo turned 30 in January so clearly appreciates that this campaign is likely to be his last chance, so last summer he asked Celtic for a transfer and that was sanctioned reluctantly by Celtic towards the end of the January transfer window.
Kyogo’s time at Rennes has been far from easy so far. A debut where he got just seven touches was followed by a change of manager as Rennes edged closer to a relegation battle. Kyogo was benched and has had precious little game-time since, even then his troublesome shoulder issue reared its head again and he was back on the treatment table.
Kyogo has been sitting on the bench as an unused substitute at Rennes
In the match at the weekend Kyogo was once again an unused substitute.
So when the international squad was announced today there will have been eyebrows raised at Hajime Moriyasu’s decision to include Kyogo, despite his French worries. Including Celtic players isn’t an issue for Moriyasu, when it comes to Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate, yet it was a ongoing problem for Kyogo and one that resulted in him asking for a transfer from Celtic.
Maybe a journalist will ask the Japan National manager about this strange situation?
Daizen Maeda has flourished as a striker at Celtic
Celtic’s failure to replace Kyogo in the transfer market in January has seen Brendan Rodgers move Daizen Maeda to centre-forward and he’s been outstanding there. Maeda is on a rich seem of goalscoring form and is almost a certainly to win all the major Player of the Year awards in Scotland.
He scored against Bayern Munich and must be a contender to lead the line for Japan in these crucial World Cup matches. Daizen has been a regular in the Japan squad throughout his time at Celtic and it’s unlikely that Hajime Moriyasu will have a better option that Daizen to lead the line.
Celtic supporters wished Kyogo well in France
Celtic supporters wished Kyogo well in France when he left and he was thanked for his outstanding contribution to the cause during his time at the club. Why playing for Celtic in Scottish football was an issue for him and him alone with the national coach remains a mystery. Perhaps the agent who masterminded the transfer to Rennes will be able to enlighten Kyogo, who has already been linked with a summer move.
Unless he gets himself into the Rennes team then as the games go by Kyogo’s chances of playing at the World Cup will reduce. And the biggest irony is that it’s his international teammate Daizen Maeda is the most likely to play as the striker for Japan, given his outstanding attributes and goalscoring form playing as a number 9 for Celtic since Kyogo moved.
Kyogo would have every right to be frustrated about all this. Others might say that you reap what you sow or even that the grass isn’t always greener.
Talking about red-hot Celtic strikers…
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Japans manager is a clown. Forced a player to move leagues for the sake of 6/7 games a year with a mediocre national team, ignoring the players wellbeing and wishes for his own edification. A shocking way to treat a player, now he’s backed into a corner, he couldn’t snub Kyogo after forcing him to move. If his for with Rennes continues he won’t be in the next squad, so ultimately, forced to move for one appearance off the bench for Japan.All the time totally contradicting himself by selecting Maeda and Reo. It actually seems like Kyogo called a horrible individuals bluff, which led Kyogo to throw away a good club career and champions league for mediocrity and possible Ligue 2 football. What a stand up guy the Japan manager is!!!
The real irony is that Maeda doesnt start up top, for Japan, yet Celtic fans still pretend that he does.
Japan’s starting #9 is Feyenoords Ayase Ueda. When Maeda plays for Japan, it is usually in the slot behind Ueda.
Its also getting ridiculous to hear that Moriyasu “forced Kyogo to move clubs.” How do you figure? He never said that he wasnt picking Kyogo because he plays for Celtic. He continuously said “there are better players playing in better leagues”
Do you honestly think that Kyogo deserves to play ahead of Mitoma, Junya Ito, Minamino and Kubo? Kyogo got called up this time because Japan is playing weak opponents, and Moriyasu apparently felt sorry for him. But you have to quit flogging this story that Kyogo left Celtic because he wanted to play for the NT. Why are Hatate and Maeda playing for the NT? Dont they play for Celtic???