Kyogo ‘Very Unhappy’ At Rubezic Challenge; Refused Handshake
Celtic were 6-0 victors at Parkhead on Sunday afternoon. The Hoops were rampant as they bounced back from a disappointing European defeat midweek.
Despite scoring six, one of the main talking points post-match was the challenge from Aberdeen defender Slobodan Rubezic on Kyogo. The Montenegrin internationalist completely wiped out the striker.
Because of it, the 28-year-old had to be brought off just over five minutes into the second 45. According to BBC reporter Kheredine Idessane, he was left incensed by the forceful challenge. Idessane said (BBC): “The Japanese star was extremely groggy and unsteady as he was helped past me up the tunnel. And he refused the Dons’ defender’s offer of a handshake. Furuhashi very unhappy at the challenge, understandably so.”
It is very much out of character for Kyogo to refuse to shake hands with an opponent. Usually, the centre-forward is first to help a player from the other team that he himself has hurt.
His refusal to make peace with Rubezic goes to show the brutal extent to which he was hurt by the 23-year-old. After the match, Brendan Rodgers confirmed Kyogo won’t go away on international duty with Japan as he aims to get back to fitness for Motherwell not next Saturday but the one after that.
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Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi to miss Japan’s qualifiers due to injury
The Samurai Blue striker had given the Hoops a 2-0 lead in the 16th minute with his sixth league goal of the season before being forced out of the game following a collision with Aberdeen defender Slobodan Rubezic early in the second half at Celtic Park.
The Montenegrin’s shoulder made heavy contact with Furuhashi’s head during an aggressive aerial challenge, leaving the Celtic star requiring treatment for several minutes before being helped from the pitch.
Rubezic was shown only a yellow card for the foul, prompting home fans to loudly voice their dissatisfaction.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers confirmed Furuhashi would not travel for Japan’s Asian qualifying Group B games against Myanmar in Osaka on Thursday and against Syria five days later in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“The medical team is saying that he will stay now,” Rodgers said after the match. “So he won’t travel to Japan and will rest the next seven days.”
Daizen Maeda, Celtic’s other Japanese forward, had already withdrawn from Hajime Moriyasu’s 26-man squad after suffering a knee injury last week that could keep him sidelined for up to six weeks.
South Korea international Yang Hyun-jun opened the scoring against Aberdeen, while countryman Oh Hyeon-gyu, who came on for the injured Furuhashi, netted twice deep into injury time, adding to a penalty from Luis Palma and a 92nd-minute strike from David Turnbull.
Japanese midfielder Tomoki Iwata came off the bench for Celtic in the 81st minute.