Frozen-out Celtic star dragged back from wilderness and can help secure huge triumph
Striker could help fire Blue Samurai to World Cup
Kyogo Furuhashi has won a recall to the Japanese national squad, ending an exile spanning more than a year from the Blue Samurai.
The 29-year-old has been picked by Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu for their World Cup qualifiers later this month against Indonesia and China.
Furuhashi has benefitted from an injury to regular striker Ayase Ueda and is rewarded for his good form in Celtic colours this season.
The ex-Vissel Kobe hitman - capped 21 times by his nation - is joined in the Japan squad by his Celtic teammates Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate, who have been regularly selected by Moriyasu over the past year.
Japan face Indonesia in Jakarta on Friday, November 15 before heading to China on Tuesday, November 19. Should they win either of those matches, then they will qualify automatically for the World Cup in 2026. Japan currently lead Group C by five points.
Meanwhile, Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers believes they have shown they can be a danger to teams in the Champions League.
The Hoops swept to an emphatic 3-1 victory over RB Leipzig on Wednesday to make it seven points from four matches.
The win and the performance has given Celtic fans genuine hope that their team can make progress into the knockout phase.
Other than a 15-minute spell in the first half, Celtic produced an assured display and, although they had some defending to do, were well worth their victory.
Carter-Vickers said: “This is our third year now in the Champions League and it’s been a process. Throughout that time, we’ve grown in belief, grown in confidence at this level.
“The opening game here was really good. Obviously, we had a little setback in Dortmund. But then the game away in Atalanta showed that, if we have to, we can dig in and can get through tough moments in games.
“And Wednesday was kind of a combination of the Bratislava game and the Atalanta game.
“You’re never going to be perfect. And you’re never going to completely match the same performance.
“But that’s our aim. Every game we go into, we want to dominate games and create chances and be on the front foot. And we showed against a really good team that we can do that.
“And that’s what we’re trying to do going forward. If we play like that, (we can be) very dangerous. But it’s about maintaining that level and staying concentrated.”
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