Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda missed their last chance to stake their claim for a World Cup place as Celtic team-mate Kyogo featured in the first half of their goalless Qatar 2022 warm-up against Ecuador.
Maeda was ruled out of the friendly in Dusseldorf due to a thigh injury picked up earlier int he week with Kyogo stepping in but it was a a 45 minutes to forget the Hoops talisman missed a decent chance late in the first half before he was hooked at the break. It was the South Americans, who open the World Cup against the hosts on November 20, who had the best chances as they hit the post on the stroke of half-time before captain Enner Valencia had a penalty saved late on by Daniel Schmidt.
Samurai Blue boss Hajime Moriyasu fielded mainly a second string side but Hatate was left kicking his heels on the bench despite his seriously impressive displays for Ange Postecoglou’s side and the 24-year-old must be fearing for his Qatar chances.
