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Kyogo Furuhashi hopes to emulate Shunsuke Nakamura at Celtic

Kyogo Furuhashi hopes to emulate Shunsuke Nakamura at Celtic
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Veteran Japan midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura scored 33 goals in four seasons with Celtic, including a memorable free-kick against Manchester United.

Kyogo Furuhashi remembers watching Shunsuke Nakamura bring down Manchester United at Celtic Park and wants to create similar excitement with the Hoops fans.

Furuhashi became the latest Japan international to join Celtic when he completed a move from Vissel Kobe last month.

The 26-year-old follows in the footsteps of Nakamura, who scored 33 goals in four seasons with Celtic from 2005, including a wonderful free-kick winner against United in the Champions League.

With a full crowd potentially returning to Celtic Park for next week's Europa League qualifier second leg against Jablonec, Furuhashi is relishing the prospect of sharing the joy with home supporters.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said of Nakamura: "I remember him playing for Celtic and the supporters must remember him very well. I remember the free-kick he scored against Manchester United.

"I'm looking forward very much to playing here in front of the supporters and also to share the excitement together.

"Celtic have a great history and a wonderful team. I feel very happy and honoured to be here."

Furuhashi played with Andres Iniesta at Kobe and got the Barcelona great's backing for the move before setting off for Scotland.

"(He said) if I did what I was doing I should be getting good results so he encouraged me to come here," he said.

The attacking player made his debut off the bench against Hearts at Tynecastle on Saturday, hours after arriving in Scotland following a spell in quarantine in London.

John Souttar soon scored a late winner for Hearts to make it three games without victory for new manager Ange Postecoglou, whose Yokohama Marinos team Furuhashi came up against in recent seasons.

The forward knows he needs to focus on the here and now and not get ahead of himself after arriving in Europe, and he is convinced Postecoglou can lead Celtic to success.

"I don't want to say too much about the future," he said. "At the moment I am thinking about the current situation and concentrating on what I can do.

"It was very exciting and fun to make my debut. I have to concentrate on what I am doing and I hope to contribute to the team as much as I can.

"Celtic have great players and the manager is wonderful. If we can focus, the results will follow.

"It's a very interesting style of football. I think I can fit in, that's why I am here and I will try my best to contribute to the team as much as I can."

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New Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou pictured on July 20, 2021
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Olympic medal table header
CountryGold medalSilver MedalBronze MedalT
ChinaChina34241674
United StatesUnited States29352791
JapanJapan22101446
AustraliaAustralia1751941
Olympics flagRussian Olympic Committee16222058
Great BritainGreat Britain16181852
Today's Olympic highlights header

Friday's key events


HOCKEY
· Great Britain's women aim to secure their place on the podium as they face India in the bronze medal match (2.30am)
· Netherlands - silver medallists five years ago - and Argentina battle for the gold medal in the women's final (11am)

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
· The women's gold medal will be decided as Australia and USA go head to head (3.30am)

BOXING
· Lauren Price will be looking to add to Team GB's success in the ring when she takes on Nouchka Fontijn of Netherlands in the women's middleweight semi-final (6am)

DIVING
· Tom Daley already has one Olympic gold to his name in Tokyo, and he begins his bid for second in the men's 10m platform. Teammate Noah Williams is also involved in the preliminary round (7am)

CYCLING
· Jason Kenny's reign as sprint king may be over, but Jack Carlin looked strong in his bid to succeed his compatriot. He takes on Harrie Lavreysen in his sprint semi-final (8.10am), with the final taking place later in the day (10.35am)
· The women's madison makes its Olympic debut at the velodrome as Team GB duo Katie Archibald and Laura Kenny look to add another medal to their collections (9.15am)

FOOTBALL
· Hosts Japan will look to get themselves on the podium as they face Mexico in the men's bronze medal match (10am)
· The women's champions will be crowned as both Sweden and Canada aim to win Olympic gold for the very first time (1pm)

ATHLETICS
· The men's 5000m final includes Great Britain's Andrew Butchart, but most eyes will be on Ugandan world record holder Joshua Cheptegei (1pm)
· Team GB's Jodie Williams will hope to get on the podium in the women's 400m final, but defending champ Shaunae Miller-Uibo is favourite for gold while Stephenie Ann McPherson should challenge and Allyson Felix is bidding to become the most decorated female track and field athlete of all time (1.35pm)
· Netherlands' Sifan Hassan takes on leg two of her ambitious attempt at a Tokyo treble in a women's 1500m final which also includes Great Britain's Laura Muir and Faith Kipyegon of Kenya (1.50pm)
· A star-studded women's 4x100m relay final will see a Team GB quartet including Dina Asher-Smith look to upset defending champions USA and favourites Jamaica, who boast Elaine Thompson-Herah as she goes for her third gold of the Games (2.30pm)
· Great Britain and Jamaica will also be going for gold in the men's 4x100m relay final, and their medal hopes have been boosted by USA's failure to qualify (2.50pm)

> Today's schedule in full
Todays Game Header Right
Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1RangersRangers11003033
2Aberdeen11002023
3Hibernian11003213
4Hearts11002113
5Dundee10102201
6St Mirren10102201
7Ross County10100001
8St Johnstone10100001
9Motherwell100123-10
10Celtic100112-10
11Dundee UnitedDundee Utd100102-20
12Livingston100103-30

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