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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Aidan Smith

Watch Celtic star Kyogo Furuhashi net impressive goal on Japan international return

This is the moment Kyogo Furuhashi netted for Japan against El Salvador in an international friendly clash this afternoon.

The Celtic striker nodded home a fine header to round off the scoring in a dominant 6-0 victory.

Shogo Taniguchi, Ayase Ueda, Takefusa Kubo, Ritsu Doan and Keito Nakamura were also on the scoresheet at the Toyota Stadium in Japan.

Kyogo was introduced just after the hour mark and his Celtic teammate Reo Hatate played the full 90 minutes in an impressive performance.

Frontman Daizen Maeda did not feature but he could still be utilised against Peru next Tuesday in a second friendly clash.

Both Kyogo and Hatate have been linked with summer moves to Tottenham Hotspur after Ange Postecoglou's move from Celtic.

It remains to be seen if the Aussie will snap up two of his star performers from his time at Parkhead, but Hatate has spoken about his hopes of playing at a higher level.

In an interview with GOAL in Japan, he said: 

"If there is a chance to step up, I would like to play in various leagues.

"As a football player, I think everyone wants to play at a high level throughout the season. When I was in the J-League, I thought it was impossible to play in the five major leagues.

"However, because I was able to achieve a certain amount of results throughout the season with Celtic, I started to think that I would like to challenge myself next time. If there is a chance, I would like to take on the challenge.

"Of course, if I stay with this team, I can still have good experiences, and next season I will be in the Champions League. I think that by always standing at the top and fighting, I will be mentally stronger, so it would be nice if I stayed."

Meanwhile, Celtic appear close to securing the services of Brendan Rodgers for a second time after pushing the boat out to bring their former manager back as Postecoglou’s successor.

The Hoops have been on the hunt for a new boss since the Australian sealed his move to Tottenham last Tuesday.

After being linked with Manchester City assistant Enzo Maresca, Bodo/Glimt boss Kjetil Knutsen and West Ham manager David Moyes, among others, the Celtic board have now homed in on Rodgers, with whom they met in Majorca last weekend to initiate discussions.

The Northern Irishman left Celtic to take over at Leicester almost four and a half years ago, but he now appears set for a return to the club at which he won all seven domestic trophies available to him while laying the foundations for a remarkable quadruple-treble that was completed by his successor Neil Lennon.

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