Josip Juranovic and his Croatia teammates celebrated knocking Daizen Maeda and Japan out of the World Cup on Monday to reach the World Cup quarter-finals – and the Celtic defender has sent a four-word message to Maeda.
It was a tense affair. Maeda, 25, scored only his second-ever goal for Japan on Monday – reacting first in the box to slam home the opener. But it was not to be for Japan. Tottenham’s Ivan Perisic headed in an equaliser, 1-1.
The game remained at that score until the 120th minute. Penalties came next, but it was not to be for Japan. Dominik Livakovic was the star of the show, saving three of Japan’s four penalties. Croatia scored three of their four, to win.
Ecstasy for Juranovic, who will now prepare to take on Brazil – after their 4-1 win over South Korea. But despair for Maeda, who was excellent during his 63-minute performance. A display that earned praise from Rio Ferdinand.
Juranovic was seen consoling Maeda after the penalty shootout. Celtic posted a picture on their Instagram of their defender, who has been linked with a move away, embracing Maeda following the shootout defeat at Al Janoub.
Celtic defender Juranovic sends message to Maeda after World Cup clash
A real shame for Maeda and Japan, who pushed Croatia the whole way and were unlucky not to edge past their experienced rivals. But if the game was judged off the penalty shootout, and it was – Croatia deserved to go through.
Japan’s efforts from the spot were terrible. Whether that is down to tiredness after working their socks off during the actual game, or simply the quality was lacking, is up for debate. Maeda is likely to rest, before returning to Glasgow.
Celtic take on Aberdeen on December 17 and it might be that Maeda and Juranovic are given a bit of a rest. With Juranovic progressing into the quarter-finals, he sent a touching four-word message on the above Celtic post.
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