Celtic, the Scottish soccer powerhouse that boasts K-League greats such as Oh Hyun-gyu, Yang Hyun-joon, and Kwon Hyuk-gyu, has lost its first game of its preseason tour of Japan.
The Hoops fell 4-6 in a friendly against Yokohama F.Marinos of Japan’s J1 Soccer League at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, Japan on Monday afternoon.
After canceling their trip to Japan earlier this month, citing the organizers’ inability to meet financial and operational commitments, Celtic redirected their pre-season plans to a tour of Japan that included two friendlies against J1 League teams.
After facing Yokohama, Celtic will face Gamba Osaka on the 22nd.
In the match, Celtic took a 3-2 lead at half-time as Daizen Maeda exploded for a hat-trick in the 43rd minute.
However, back-to-back goals from Andersson Lopes in the 14th 온라인카지노 minute and Yuki Saneto in the 21st minute saw the lead slip away.
Celtic then made nine substitutions at the same time in the 29th minute, including two of their top players, Furuhashi Kyogo and Oh Hyun-gyu, in an attempt to change the game.
Celtic then conceded two goals to Ryo Miyauchi in a three-minute span from the 39th minute onwards, and were only able to pull one back in stoppage time when David Turnbull scored a surprise mid-range strike from behind the penalty spot.
Once home to Ki Sung-yueng (FC Seoul) and Cha Doo-ri (retired), Celtic have had “fun” with Japanese J-League players in recent years, and this year they have been actively courting Korean players.
In January, national team striker Oh Hyun-gyu joined Celtic from the K League’s Suwon Samsung, and recently, Gangwon FC’s Yang Hyun-joon and Busan I-Park’s Kwon Hyuk-gyu are set to join Celtic.
Yang and Kwon will fly out of the country tonight via Incheon International Airport to undergo a medical, the final step in the transfer process.
Speaking to the media at the airport before his departure, Yang said, “The first thing is to adapt well to Celtic. Then I will show what kind of player I am,” he said.