It has been confirmed that Japan will take on the USA in a friendly in Europe on Friday 23 September 2022. [Japan National Team]
This will only be the third time that both sides have played each other and will be the first since a friendly match 16 years ago.
Both sides will be participating in this years World Cup meaning that it this is ideal preparation for the players in what will be a tough test.
There’s an advantage for players who ply their trade in European football as they won’t need to travel far and the majority should be into the swing of things with leagues beginning in late July/early August due to the winter World Cup.
For Celtic fans, this means that we may well be seeing some of our current first team players go up against each other with the potential for Cameron Carter-Vickers, Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and maybe Reo Hatate to be involved.
Hatate was recently handed his first cap for the Samurai Blue during a World Cup qualifier against Vietnam at the end of March this year.
The midfielder will be hoping to kick-on after a full pre-season at the club. He made an instant impact when he arrived in January from Kawasaki Frontale and scored some pivotal goals which helped the Hoops win the league championship.
Supporters will be glad to know that this friendly tie does not clash with any of Celtic’s confirmed fixtures at the moment with our final match before the international break scheduled to take play at the Simple Digital Arena against St Mirren.
