Celtic TV caught up with hat-trick hero Daizen Maeda after his superb showing in the 6-4 defeat suffered at the hands of his old side on Wednesday. The striker scored a wonderful cluster of goals but it wasn’t enough to see the Hoops through as the conditions and tiredness in the legs won in the end.
Maeda never looks tired of course, and it’s one of his biggest attribute that he can keep going and pressing relentlessly like a Duracell Bunny. His manager praised the attacker’s performance as outstanding on the night and he can consider himself unfortunate to be on the losing side after a display like that.
Speaking to Celtic TV, he said: “I used to play here so I was very excited to play against them. I got the three goals, it was a good performance and it was nice to show how I play with Celtic in front of the Marinos fans. A lot of people were looking forward to me playing well and I’m glad I could show how I play with Celtic.’
“It was not just Japanese supporters, I think there were supporters from Glasgow as well. We are disappointed with the result but I could get the three goals and I’m very pleased with my performance.”
25-year-old Maeda has insisted that this is just the beginning now and there is more in his locker as we look to gain momentum ahead of another new Scottish Premiership campaign. He added: “Personally I’m in good shape but it’s more important to be in good shape as a team.We still have two or three weeks to prepare for the first game in the league and we will have to progress.”
Ahead of our showdown with fellow Yokohama’s domestic rivals, Gamba Osaka, the red-hot attacker revealed: “It will be difficult but for the next game we want to get the win. We think we can go out and put in a great performance.”
Paul Gillespie
