Japan boss explains Celtic decisions - Daizen Maeda brief and why Kyogo Furuhashi was left out

Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu has explained why Daizen Maeda was the only Celtic player to be called into his squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Japan's head coach Hajime Moriyasu has picked his squad for two key qualifiers.

Moriyasu has selected his pool for the home fixtures against China on January 27 and Saudi Arabia on February 1, with Celtic’s Maeda included but club team-mates Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi left out.

On the call-up for Maeda, Moriyasu said: "What I expect from him are goals. He scored shortly into his debut for Celtic and he was the J1 (co-)top scorer last season. That's what I want from him.

"I think he earned this transfer because [Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou] knows his character and his quality. That's a big advantage and is a big reason for why we called him up.

Daizen Maeda scored on his debut for Celtic.

"A lot of the time right after a transfer, managers don't know how to use their new players & integrate them into the side, and in those cases we might not call them up. But Postecoglou knows how to use Daizen.

"It's very important for the manager to understand the player."

Moriyasu explained that it would have been pointless to call up Furuhashi, who has been a regular fixture in the Japan squad of late, as the player is suffering from a hamstring injury.

"We don't know the details about his injury,” added Moriyasu.

"But because it's at the level where we were concerned about whether he'd be able to contribute to the team we decided not to call him up this time."

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