DAIZEN MAEDA and Reo Hatate were snubbed as Japan beat Bahrain 2-0 in their World Cup qualifier at the Saitana stadium this afternoon.
Manager Hajime Moriyasu made five substitutions in his nation’s Group C triumph, but there was no place for the Celtic double-act who remained on the bench for the entire 98 minutes of action.
Maeda and Hatate, the Hoops’ goalscorers in the derby encounter on Sunday, watched as Daichi Kamada scored the opening goal in the 66th minute and Takefuso Kubo claimed the decisive strike near the end.
Japan sit top of the table with 19 points from seven outings with nearest challengers Australia nine points adrift.
EURO STARS…Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda celebrate the midfielder’s strike to make it 3-1 in the Champions League win over RB Leipzig at Parkhead in November.
The Parkhead pair will be hoping to see some game time when Japan go into action on Tuesday with another home encounter when they face Saudi Arabia.
Kyogo Furuhashi, who was named in the player pool despite struggling at Rennes following his £10million January switch from the Hoops, was not among the stripped squad for today’s match.
Yang Hyun-jun was slightly more fortunate than team-mates Maeda and Hatate and made an 85th-minute subs’ appearance in South Korea’s 1-1 draw with Oman.
The winger will be hoping for a longer run when his country play at home again on Tuesday, with Jordan the visitors.
