Celtic expert can’t believe it as ‘stupid’ Reo Hatate news confirmed
Frank McAvennie is baffled by Celtic duo Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate’s omission from the Japan squad for their upcoming fixtures.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Hoops striker claimed that Japan will “win the World Cup” if they have better players than Kyogo and Hatate to call upon.
On Wednesday (15 March), Hajime Moriyasu confirmed his squad for their upcoming Kirin Challenge Cup games.
Daizen Maeda was once again given the call-up following impressive performances at the World Cup, but teammates Kyogo and Hatate were notable omissions.
As quoted by the Scotsman (15 March), Moriyasu said he took the “level of the league” into consideration when making his squad choices.
Although the Japanese boss said he has no doubt Kyogo and Hatate would contribute to the national team, he was focused on the squad from the Qatar World Cup for their upcoming games.
When asked for his thoughts on the decision, McAvennie told Football Insider: “The manager was saying that he knows what they can do but he is trying to build a team for 2026 but for me it is a bit stupid.
“If he has got better players than Hatate then they will win the World Cup.
“They have not taken [Tomoki] Iwata either who was the best player in the J-League last year. It is a weird one for me that players like that are not in it. It is baffling.“
In other news, according to sources, Livingston and St Mirren enter race for Celtic product Aaron Healy.