REO HATATE has been a revelation since arriving in Scotland on Hogmanay as a virtual unknown from Kawasaki Frontale.
The midfielder, who had yet to win a full Japan international cap at the time, was part of the J-League triple swoop along with Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi.
Hatate is obviously a great believer in the old maxim that you only get one chance to make a first impression and he made the most of his opportunity with a stunning Man of the Match performance on his debut in the 2-0 win over Hibs at Parkhead when the Premiership resumed on January 17.
LEARNING CURVE…Reo Hatate dives in to try to prevent Luka Modric from scoring Real Madrid’s second goal.
He hit the headlines with his two goals in the 3-0 rout of Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Ibrox visitors on February 2 in the east end of Glasgow.
Not content with the two opening strikes, the playmaker set up Liel Abada for the third goal just before the interval.
Hatate played a major role in delivering the Hoops back to the league pinnacle for the first time in 18 months and, of course, Ange Postecoglou’s side remained there all the way to May 14 when the tenth title in 11 years was handed over following the 6-0 romp against Motherwell.
There is more bad news for the opposition – the player reckons he is IMPROVING.
IT TAKES TWO…Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley celebrate the Japanese star’s goal in the 2-2 draw with Legia Warsaw in pre-season.
The 24-year-old midfielder, who earned his first full cap in the 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw against Vietnam on March 29, made his Champions League baptism against holders Real Madrid under the lights at Parkhead on Tuesday.
He illuminated the evening with some subtle promptings, astute passing and sheer hard work until he was replaced in the 72nd minute by David Turnbull.
Hatate was up against the genius of five-time Champions League winner Luka Modric, who has made 152 appearances for Croatia and will celebrate his 37th birthday tomorrow.
It was a steep learning curve and after the 3-0 reverse against Carlo Ancelotti’s All Stars, the fans’ favourite declared: “Well, first of all, I enjoyed it a lot.
“I felt excitement, of course, and I felt nervous, there were a lot of feelings at the start of the game. But I enjoyed the match a lot and I feel like I am improving as a player.”
JUST CHAMPION…Reo Hatate flies the flag after the 1-1 draw with Dundee United at Tannadice on May 11 that sealed the tenth title in 11 years.
Hatate continued: “I cannot express with my words what that experience was like.
“I tried a lot of things, showed a little of what I can do and I learned a lot of things from playing against players like Luka Modric. I have to take as much out of this experience as I can and use that to improve as a player.”
Reflecting on the scoreline, the middle of the park performer, speaking to the Daily Record, remarked: “Well, we have to accept the result and analyse what we can do to improve.
“But we have a lot of games still to play in this group, and now we have to recover, refresh and prepare for the game against Livingston on Saturday.
“It all depends on us. We just have to prove to everyone and show that we are a good team and that we can do it.
“We did manage to play our football, we wanted to play our own style, but in the end we couldn’t do that for the whole 90 minutes. This is what we now need to work on.”
HANDS UP IF YOU’RE HAPPY…Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda after the 3-0 win over the Ibrox side on February 2.
Hatate added: “I really appreciate all of the supporters, because they received us very well on Tuesday night, and even after the game, too.
“We didn’t manage to get the result we wanted to give them, but we will work harder than ever to give something back to our supporters.”
After Livingston at Parkhead on Saturday afternoon, the adventures in Europe’s elite competition are resumed with an encounter against surprise packets Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw on Wednesday.
Former Celtic flop Marian Shved led the way in Germany with a double in the Ukrainian’s 4-1 hammering of RB Leipzig.
Now Postecoglou’s men go in search of that crucial first win to get points on board in Group F.
This what Reo Hatate signed up for.
