Daizen Maeda of Celtic FC competes for the ball with Francisco Trincao of Sporting de Lisboa during the Pre-Season Friendly match between Sporting de Lisboa and Celtic FC at Estadio Algarve in Faro, Portugal, on July 16, 2025. (Photo by Jose Luis Contreras/Dax Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The legend of Daizen Maeda added another notch tonight during Celtic’s 2-0 win over Sporting Lisbon.
Early on in his Celtic career he flew in from playing for Japan in a World Cup qualifier to come off the bench the next day in the Glasgow Derby.
No player covered more ground during the Champions League group stage with Maeda’s goals more than matched his mileage and workrate, nothing was too much for him, through the spring time he’d split his time between the left wing and centre-forward and rarely played less than 90 minutes.
? Celtic star Daizen Maeda was spotted doing PRESS-UPS in the technical area after being subbed-off against Sporting Lisbon pic.twitter.com/BhoC9qtBhd
— Scottish Sun Sport (@scotsunsport) July 16, 2025
Tonight in his second pre-season match Maeda was part of the mass substitution in the 66th minute, nine outfield changes were made after Johnny Kenny had replaced Adam Idah at half time.
While Maeda’s exhausted team-mates sat on the bench drinking water and trying to regain their breath their super-fit team-mate couldn’t let up.
By the side of the dug-out area Maeda started doing press-ups- after more than an hour playing on the Algarve with the temperature in the high twenties at kick off time.
Celtic fly back to Glasgow tomorrow with Maeda having Newcastle United to face on Saturday as he maintains the fitness levels that could allow him to switch effortlessly from being a sprinter to a marathon runner.
CELTIC: Schmiechel, Ralston, Murray, Scales, Tierney, McGregor, Nygren, Hatate, Forrest, Idah, Maeda.
Subs: Sinisalo, Doohan, Clarke, Rice, Trusty, Yang, McCowan, Osmand, Tilio, Kenny, Inamura, Engels, Summers, Montgomery, McPherson, Ure, McArdle, Donovan
Fine finish by Luke McCowan first the second goal pic.twitter.com/3TOFOzB1cB
— Highland__Paddy (@Highland__paddy) July 16, 2025
Too many empty jersies in that team in the first half. Something’s not quite right there!
It’s still pre-season FFS and many positives out there tonight! 2-0 away for starters against Portuguese champions who dive for fun! And Ref bought their dives
I’m as frustrated as anyone in this, as usual, transfer window, but at least watch the fitba.
If all you seek is shit then all you’ll find is shit.
You won’t even NAME a player, good or bad, just a vague reference to “empty jersies”.
FFS, be honest and name names and what they added/subtracted from our team, in your very considered opinion, Maisterbates. 🙂
We’re all Tims on here, we hope, so it’s discussion, not war!
Hoops 0 v Cock – A – Hoops 2 ! – That’ll do !!!
He made his own way back to Glasgow via a Tour de France wearing Le maillot jaune, swam the English Channel, strolled from Land’s End to John o’Groats, did a highland games, relaxed by going to the gym and then bed. “Have you had your Weetabix?”.