Celtic forward Daizen Maeda has broken his silence for the first time since the penalty shootout defeat that put his country out of the World Cup. 

The 25-year-old scored in the first half of the round of 16 tie to give Japan the lead before an equaliser by Croatia in the second 45 minutes sent the match to extra time.

This was not enough to separate the two sides, though, and ultimately, it went to penalties, with the Croats progressing to the quarter-finals as 3-1 winners on spot-kicks.

 

Maeda tweeted: "World Cup for the first time. I was able to stand on this stage because of the people I met, the team I belonged to, my family, fans, supporters, and a lot of support.

"Four years later. I will definitely revenge. Thank you very much for all your support."

On the winning side of the fixture was his Hoops team-mate Josip Juranovic.

The right-back admitted at full-time that "he felt for" Maeda after the way the game went.

Speaking to Sportsmail after the match, the former Legia Warsaw man said: "Daizen is my friend and I congratulated him because he scored a goal in the World Cup and that is every player's dream.

"But I also felt sad for him because he was crying. Football is about sportsmanship and I gave him a little kiss.

"He is such a good friend of mine and had such a good World Cup with Japan.

"I feel sad for him but happy for Croatia. We made history tonight and now I have something I can say to my sons in the future that I did something beautiful."

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