Celtic star Kyogo Furuhashi was left out of Japan’s World Cup squad simply because of his underwhelming performances for the national team, former Samurai Blue star Shoji Jo tells AS.
A penny for Kyogo’s thoughts as Japan hammered on Costa Rica’s door without ever managing to pick the lock on Sunday afternoon, an eventual 1-0 defeat undoing so much of the good work the put in against Germany only days earlier.
Former Hoops frontman John Hartson certainly didn’t hold back in co-commentary duty for the BBC; expressing his disbelief that a Japan side with few top-level centre-forwards had left one of their best at home.
Kyogo, since joining Celtic from Vissel Kobe, has 31 goals in just 53 games after all. Some very big goals among them too.
But, as Jo points out, match-winning performances like the ones Celtic supporters have become accustomed to over the last 18 months have been few and far between during Kyogo’s Japan career.
Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi was left out of Japan’s Qatar World Cup squad
“Furuhashi has played very well for Celtic this season. However, with Japan, he’s not been able to give even 50 per cent of that performance” Jo explains.
The numbers tell a story. In 16 appearances, Kyogo has found the net just three times for the Far Eastern nation. And Jo believes that Japan lack the incisive creativity required to provide the Celtic talisman with the sort of opportunities he relishes inside the penalty area.
“The reason (for Kyogo’s struggles on the international stage) is that there is no passer in the squad who can put Furuhashi in advantageous situations,” Jo adds.
Of course, Japan could potentially have solved that problem by calling up Reo Hatate too. Arguably Celtic’s most influential and creative central midfielder, Hatate was also left out of Hajime Moriyasu’s 26-man roster, with the jet-heeled Daizen Maeda the only one of Celtic’s Japanese contingent getting the nod.
‘I couldn’t call up everyone’
Maeda is a forward in a very different mould to Kyogo. Which, in truth, probably explains why the former is in the squad, while the latter is not. With Japan sacrificing possession and looking to hit Germany on the counter during last week’s 2-1 win, Maeda’s speed and energy was integral.
Kyogo, however, tends to thrive in a more possession-based approach. An approach Japan could not have hoped to employ in a World Cup group containing both Germany and Spain.
“I couldn’t call up everyone who was looking forward to this World Cup,” Moriyasu said last month.
“But I thank and honour everyone who has expressed a desire to represent Japan. No matter how many we can choose, there are lots of good players. Even if we were choosing 30, there would be difficult decisions.
“We selected players who will be on the same wavelength as a team. Who will be able to move and link up together. Who, through their organisation, will be able to make use of their individual strengths.”
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