“He will get his shot” – Dan Orlowitz explains Celtic stars exclusion from World Cup squad

It was a shock to many Celtic fans that Kyogo and Hatate were left out of the Japan World Cup squad.

Many couldn’t understand that how two players who have shone so brightly for the club in the last 18 months could have been overlooked so easily by Moriyasu and trusted journalist, Dan Orlowitz took to Twitter to explain one of the reasons why Hatate, at least, wasn’t selected:

As I and others have tweeted a billion times over the last couple months, Hatate has the poor luck of being an incredibly good Swiss army knife in a drawer full of tools that for the most part are also very very good on their own.

He will get his shot in 2026, to be certain. https://t.co/QKxUwjtt00

— Dan Orlowitz (@aishiterutokyo) November 1, 2022

That was one of the main reasons that Hatate was sold on the club.

He could play in a variety of positions. Known for playing as a right back, defensive midfielder and a striker, Hatate has found his niche under Ange Postecoglou in the centre of midfield so one can only assume that there are better options for the Japan manager to use.

Whatever the reason, it certainly is a head scratcher but as Dan says, Hatate’s time will come.

He’s too good for it not to.