Match Pictures | Matches: 2023 – 2024
Trivia
- KO: 11am UK Time; 19:00 Local time Saturday; Panasonic Stadium Suita, Osaka, Japan; Only on Celtic TV
- Japan Tour; Second & final match of the tour.
- Summer Friendlies
- Bernabei the hero at the end with a wonderful goal after some tenacious work.
- Transfers :
- In: Odin Holm (£2.5m Vålerenga); Marco Tilio (1.4m from Australia); Iwata (converted to perm from loan); Yang Hyun-jun (£2m from Gangwon);
- Out: Barkas (freed), Ronan Ferns (Brighton 250k), Ewan Otoo (free), Tsoanela Letsosa to @LommelSKOff (free), Mooy (retired), Adam Montgomery joins Fleetwood Town on a season-long loan, Jota to Al ittihad (25m), Adam Brooks move to Scottish Championship side @ICTFC; Tsoanelo Letsosa moved to Lommel SK; Liam Shaw to Wigan (on loan);
- Reports (in): Netherlands midfielder Donny van de Beek says it is possible he could leave Manchester United this summer amid links to Celtic.; Yang Hyun-jun is on his way to Glasgow to complete a transfer to Celtic. ; Brendan Rodgers has played down links with Gremio winger Ferreira in Brazil and Egyptian prospect Mohamed Reda; Former Leicester City winger Tete – who is now with Shakhtar Donetsk – “could be one” of Celtic’s targets this summer as they seek to replace Jota, says transfer expert Fabrizio Romano. ; Celtic in race for Legia Warsaw centre-back Maik Nawrocki.
- Reports (out): Liel Abada linked with move to Fenerbahce
- Women’s football world cup started in Australia/New Zealand.
- Huge headache for Scottish FA and SPFL as broadcasters Viaplay (who sponsor the League Cup) confirm they are pulling out of the UK. Could lead to blackout of coverage of matches.
- Former Celtic winger Aiden McGeady has joined Ayr in a player-coach role.
- Climate change is panicking everyone across the globe, record heat levels.
Summary
joebloggscity of TheCelticWiki:
A training match, and different teams for both halves. A stange contrast to Wednesday with only one goal v 10 on Wednesday! Little should be taken from this match, the game having been played in sweltering heat it seemed. Maeda had a goal chopped off wrongly in the first half, and Bernabei was a hero with a good goal harrying the opposition goalkeeper to steal a goal after some tenacious play. Their goalkeeper actually had a very decent game, unlike Celtic’s.
Etims:
FT Gamba Osaka 0 #Celtic 1 Good run out. Starting XI all replaced at HT! Some of the young yins did well 2nd half. Good to see them throwing bodies on the line the last few mins to get win. Only a friendly but nice to see. Bernie with assist & goal of the season!
) hoping the feed didnt go down
Teams
Celtic:
CELTIC 1ST HALF: Hart, Iwata, Welsh, Starfelt, Taylor, Hatate, McGregor, Turnbull, Abada, Forrest, Maeda.
CELTIC 2ND HALF: Sigriest, McPherson (Summers 90), Lawal, Scales, Bernabei, Holm, O’Riley, Haksabanovic, Vata, Kyogo, Oh.
Goals:Bernabei 85
Assists:
GAMBA OSAKA:
Tani (Ishikawa 46), Fukuoka, Miura, Kurokawa (Fujihara 46), Yanagisawa (Takao 46) Fukuda, Neta, Sugiyama, Ishige (Juan 62), Usami (Meshino 62), Suzuki (Issam 62).
Goals:
Assists:
Ref:
Att:
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Links
Articles
Celtic close out tour of Japan with victory in Osaka
https://www.celticfc.com/news/2023/july/22/celtic-close-out-tour-of-japan-with-victory-in-osaka/
Match Report
By Ryan Maher
Share
22 Jul 2023, 12:57 pm
Pre-season friendly
Saturday, July 22, 2023
Panasonic Stadium, Osaka, Japan
Gamba Osaka… 0
Celtic… 1
(Bernabei 85)
Celtic closed out their tour of Japan with a 1-0 win against J. League side Gamba Osaka, ensuring the squad fly back to Glasgow with a positive result to end a worthwhile trip both on and off the field.
Alexandro Bernabei got the goal with five minutes to play, as the Argentine left-back’s endeavour to close down the goalkeeper paid off to win the ball, roll it into the net, and leave the local and travelling Celtic fans home happy.
It was a successful trip to connect with the huge following in the Far East, and with two games in the bag against top-quality Japanese opposition, it will go down as a valuable one on the field as the team gets ready for the start of the league campaign.
By half-time in Wednesday’s game against Yokohama F. Marinos there were already five goals, but in Osaka, the opening 45 couldn’t bring a moment for the fans to cheer, but there was plenty of action.
Daizen Maeda was involved in the first chance of the match for David Turnbull before he then turned the ball into the net after a sublime pass by Reo Hatate on the 7th minute, however, the flag was up for offside to keep his tally for the tour to Japan at three.
Gamba Osaka had a half-chance of their own on the 11th minute when a free-kick drifted wide, but it was all Celtic in the south-west of Japan.
Callum McGregor and Tomoki Iwata both had identical chances on the 17th and 19th minute respectively, and both fired wide with their left foot from 25 yards after positive build-up play from both wingers.
Daizen was causing to be a nuisance in the number nine position and he was inches away from opening the scoring on the 24th minute. This time, David Turnbull unlocked the Gamba backline with an inch-perfect first-time ball to Abada, who in turn laid the ball across for Daizen and his sliding shot was inching towards the line before the goalkeeper hurriedly gathered.
Turnbull had a chance of his own saved 10 minutes later, then with four left to play, Daizen struck the crossbar after working room for himself in the box with a lovely back-heel and his left-foot strike was tipped onto the woodwork.
Musashi Suzuki did score on half-time for the hosts, but it was ruled out for offside, then a minute later James Forrest set up Liel Abada who forced Kosei Tani into a smart save to see it at 0-0 for half-time.
20797144.jpg
Every player that started the game was swapped at half-time, as the manager tried to ensure each player was receiving the same amount of game time before flying back to Glasgow.
It was almost a perfect start for the new Celtic team in the second period and if Hyeongyu Oh could only sort his feet out then the ball would have ended in the net as he was picked out just yards out from the goal.
Kyogo was in for the second period and he was picking the ball up from slightly deeper areas and worked a nice opportunity two minutes later but his effort from 25 yards was well-held.
It was all happening at this stage and Gamba Osaka were so close to opening the scoring on 54 minutes. Meshino cut in from the left and powered a shot on goal that Ben Siegrist got across to save, but he only pushed it to Usami and the keeper had to quickly react to stop the rebound.
There wasn’t much to write home about for the next 20 minutes with neither team mustering up even a half-chance, that was until Oh went tumbling in the box and shouted for a penalty, but the referee waved away.
Then with 10 minutes to play, Gamba Osaka should have opened the scoring. Jeabli Issam was man with the chance and the striker did everything right with his first-time shot, but it cannoned off the inside of the post and just narrowly away.
But on 85 minutes the Celts would get the goal to leave the majority of the Panasonic Stadium happy, as Alexandro Bernabei scored the winner.
Chasing down a back-pass, the Argentinean left-back harried the goalkeeper and blocked his clearance, leaving him with the easy task of rolling the ball home.
Job done in Osaka, it’s home time for the Bhoys and it’s Sayonara to Japan, for now.
CELTIC 1ST HALF: Hart, Iwata, Welsh, Starfelt, Taylor, Hatate, McGregor, Turnbull, Abada, Forrest, Maeda.
CELTIC 2ND HALF: Sigriest, McPherson (Summers 90), Lawal, Scales, Bernabei, Holm, O’Riley, Haksabanovic, Vata, Kyogo, Oh.
GAMBA OSAKA: Tani (Ishikawa 46), Fukuoka, Miura, Kurokawa (Fujihara 46), Yanagisawa (Takao 46) Fukuda, Neta, Sugiyama, Ishige (Juan 62), Usami (Meshino 62), Suzuki (Issam 62).
Subs: Higashiguchi, Dawhan, Yamamoto, Nakamura, Tsukamoto, Yamahi.
Manager: We end a positive trip to Japan in a very positive way
https://www.celticfc.com/news/2023/july/22/manager-Manager–We-end-a-positive-trip-to-Japan-in-a-very-positive-way/
First Team
By Ryan Maher in Japan
Share
22 Jul 2023, 2:25 pm
Even if the game didn’t bring the late goal, Brendan Rodgers would have been leaving the Panasonic Stadium happy with a good day and a good week’s work.
The games in Japan are over now for Celtic, ending in a 1-0 victory over Gamba Osaka thanks to a very late Alexandro Bernabei goal.
There was lots to enjoy about the performance in Osaka, as the team stepped up their levels from the high-scoring defeat against Yokohama F. Marinos on Wednesday night both offensively and defensively, leaving the manager pleased with the 90 minutes of work.
Speaking to Celtic TV after full-time, he said: “It was a really good game for us and I thought our level stepped up again.
“In the first-half we had some really good passages of play and moments. We could have scored three or four goals at least, but their keeper made some great saves.
“Overall, I am really pleased. In the second-half we were much more aggressive after the water break and we ended up getting a goal late on, so it was a really good exercise for us with some really good bits of play.
“It’s always nice in pre-season to have that mentality to not concede and in each game, we’re progressing which is great.
“I said to them at the beginning of the season that you can never underestimate what heart gives you and as a team and an individual player you need to have heart.
“That’s something that I can’t give them and they have to have that within and we saw that in the second-half.
“At times the ball was coming into the box and Liam Scales and Bosun Lawal were making blocks, defending, and for some, it’s not their natural game but you have to do it.
‘I was really pleased with that aspect where you have to defend because when you go away from home you don’t have it all your own way.’
“You have to deal with it and we did deal with it well.”
Two tough games against the teams from the J. League have set the team up perfectly for the start of the league campaign in two weeks against Ross County at Celtic Park.
But also important from the trip has been the connection made with the fans in Japan, something the manager is pleased to have witnessed and hopes will continue to grow from strength to strength.
He added: “20–odd years ago you would never have anticipated coming over to Japan and seeing so many shirts.
“Coming out here, it’s an amazing country with a huge population but to see so many Celtic supporters is incredible.
“I know some have travelled but you also see the locals and our Japanese players have created an interest.
‘That’s what you want, to take the club all around the world and it’s the type of club that Celtic is, it’s a wonderful institution and the fan base is only growing.’
“It’s been a great trip and we still have a couple of days to go and we have more hard work to do before we get back and I think the cooler temperatures will help speed up the intensity. But overall, it’s been a great trip.”
The next time Celtic will be out in action will be next Saturday, when the Bhoys return to Ireland to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers in Dublin.
There’s plenty of excitement about the Hoops’ returning over the Irish Sea, not just with the fans, but also with Brendan Rodgers himself.
Speaking about the game, he said: “Having worked against Wolves in the last few years in the Premier League I know how good their squad is with a top-class manager.
“For us going back to Ireland is special and to be in Dublin is great. We will get back home hopefully safe and get ourselves over there and it’s a great game for us.”