DAIZEN MAEDA fired blanks again as Japan beat Scotland 1-0 in the friendly international at Hampden at the weekend.
The Celtic forward has found goals difficult to come by in 2026 and, astonishingly, last season’s top marksman with 33 strikes has claimed only ONE since the turn of the year.
That solitary counter came in the 4-0 win over Dundee United at Parkhead on January 10 in Martin O’Neill’s second comeback as interim boss following the 33 catastrophic days of Wilfried Nancy.
After captaining his country for the first time against Steve Clarke’s side, Maeda proved he was also quite adept at hitting blanks when he was questioned by the media about his Hoops future.
CAPTAIN’S ROLE…Daizen Maeda in action for Japan at Hampden.
Last summer, the 28-year-old speedster looked to be heading for Wolfsburg in a £14million deal only for the move to collapse.
The champions knocked back the offer from the Bundesliga club because they had no replacement lined up to take the place of the prolific attack-leader who had stepped up following Kyogo Furuhashi’s £10million switch to Rennes the previous January.
Asked if he expected to remain in Glasgow after this summer’s World Cup Finals, Meada clammed up.
He point blank refused to answer any questions about his club future and, instead, was happy to discuss anything to do with his country.
Ange Postecoglou’s January 2022 signing from J-League outfit Yokohama F Marinos, said: “Coach Hajime Coach Moriyasu told me just before the match.
“It was the first time in my life and I thought: ‘This is big’.
“I asked Wataru Endo what he usually does and he gave me some pointers.
“But I ended up losing the coin toss and the opponent chose the side, so I was a bit flustered at first!”
TURF LUCK…Daizen Maeda slides along the playing surface as he celebrates a ‘goal’ in the Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox. However, the Celtic striker’s joy was cut short when the effort was ruled out by VAR.
On the game Maeda, speaking to the Scottish Sun, added: “As a team, we stayed composed and kept a clean sheet.
“Based on our experience in Qatar and since then, we knew that if we stayed persistent, chances would come in the second-half.
“Personally, I felt I needed to get more involved with the ball. It was a valuable experience and there were 11 changes in the line-up.”
Maeda is now preparing for the game against England at Wembley tomorrow night before he returns to Premiership action when O’Neill’s men take on Dundee at Dens Park on Sunday.
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