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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Joe Donnelly

Could Daizen Maeda be more humble in wake of stunning hat-trick semi-final win?

He may have netted three times in the throes of Celtic's dominant 6-0 win over Aberdeen at Hampden, but Daizen Maeda remained as humble as ever after the full-time whistle.

In what was a typically energetic and determined performance from the Japanese forward, the 27-year-old ran his heart out while also being clinical in front of goal.

Still when asked about his own display specifically by Celtic TV after the match, Maeda (via his translator) said: "First of all I'm happy to go into the final as a team."


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When asked about the match itself, the conditions and the physicality brought by Aberdeen in all areas of the pitch, Maeda added: "It was a brilliant pitch and brilliant supporters so I felt very comfortable playing.

"In the league game against them we [weren't happy with our] performance, so we wanted to get revenge against them [and] it was good to get a win today"

On the night, further goals from Nicolas Kuhn and countryman Kyogo Furuhashi rounded out Celtic's six-without-reply showing, which sees them book a place in next month's Scottish League Cup final, while remaining undefeated domestically so far this season.

From here, Brendan Rodgers' side now turn their attention to a visit from RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League.

Maeda is looking forward to that. He said: "We play at home so I'd like to get a result in front of the great supporters."

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