Callum McGregor says the steely mindset of Celtic’s in-form Japanese stars typifies the strength of character which bursts throughout the entire Parkhead squad.
The captain will lead his team into another major showpiece occasion next month after the weekend win over Kilmarnock booked a berth in the Viaplay Cup final. McGregor’s men had to show grit and guts to match their ability in horrendous conditions which the skipper described as “wild”.
No one encapsulated their willingness for work better than opening goalscorer Daizen Maeda. The attacker has been in sparkling form since returning from his exploits at the World Cup in Qatar and bagged the crucial opening goal in the semi-final, even if he knew little about it as Kyle Lafferty’s dismal attempted clearance from an Aaron Mooy free-kick delivery rattled against his chest and shot high into the net. Maeda’s cultured finish in the second half which didn’t count due to an offside being awarded against teammate Kyogo during the build-up was sublime, yet, once again, the most impressive part about his game was his astounding levels of industry.
One run back the length of the pitch to cover at left-back and snuff out a potential opening for Killie’s Danny Armstrong after the winger got the better of Alexandro Bernabei just summed up his thirst for work. Compatriot Hatate has been in excellent recent form and had a strong second half at Hampden, while, despite failing to net in the semi-final, Kyogo remains at the summit of the Premiership scoring charts and the squad’s top gun.
When asked about the insatiable appetite shown by the squad’s Asian aces no matter the nature of challenge which is thrust upon them, McGregor said: “We have seen that since they have come in.
“What they have got is a really strong mindset, the same as everyone in the group. That is the important thing, the amount of strong characters we have in the group.
“We have obviously played in a lot of different conditions, in the league and big games in the Champions League. And so, when it comes to difficult days, we can lean on each other and get ourselves through it and get the job done.
“Obviously, the ambition when you come to a semi final is just to get to the final. We knew it would be a difficult game, obviously with the conditions as well.
“I thought we showed our steel at times in the game and added to that some quality to get us where we wanted to be. It [weather] was pretty wild. But that is part of football, you have to deal with that, you have to deal with the pitch on the day.
“In semi-finals, it is not about great football, you have to get the job done, which I thought we did well.”
Although needing to battle when required, Celtic refused to compromise their style of football despite the awful Hampden pitch. McGregor knew before a ball was kicked it would be treacherous, but explained: “We saw the pitch before the game and the message was we will still try and play the game the way we want to play and try not to turn it into a fight or a scrap.
“They have some big, physical boys and maybe that is the way they wanted the game to pan out. It was important we tried to stick to our principles as much as we could.
“Obviously in the moments when you have to defend and be strong, then that is, of course, part of the game as well, but I thought it was important to try and continue to play the way that we play.”
Celtic repeated their 2-0 winning scoreline over Kilmarnock from the previous week’s Premiership game and McGregor said: “I felt we were brighter. In the first 15-20 minutes we came alive in the game a lot better than we did last week, which is what we spoke about as well.
“Last week we didn’t quite get into our rhythm until later on in the first half, so that is something we were trying to do to start quicker in the game and maybe try and nick an early goal, which we did. We knew that would play in our favour. It was a good start, exactly what we wanted.”
Sub Giorgos Giakoumakis notched the second, but not before VAR had intervened to prevent the clincher arriving earlier. Hatate was correctly adjudged offside when hitting the net, but the flag did not go up when Maeda swept home.
VAR, however, spotted Kyogo marginally offside in the build-up and rendered the celebrations of the players, fans and Postecoglou meaningless. McGregor had spoken prior to the game about the technology owing Celtic some decisions and, although both offside were correct, there was still some irritation at the system.
He explained: “Just the time it takes for them is a bit frustrating from a player’s point of view. Obviously we score the second and we think it’s a good goal and we are all away celebrating and then straight away the celebrations are muted.
“But again, it’s part of the game now. And if the decision is right, then, of course it is the right thing.”
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