THE sublime second-half double that Kyogo Furuhashi netted in the Premier Sports Cup final win over Hibernian on Sunday sent the Celtic supporters inside Hampden into raptures.

But the Japanese striker’s brace was celebrated far further afield too - by a couple of his illustrious acquaintances back in his homeland.

Furuhashi played alongside Andres Iniesta, the Spanish great, at his former club and contacted Shunsuke Nakamura, his legendary countryman, to ask for his advice when the chance to move to Scotland arose in the summer.

Both men were quick to get in touch to offer their congratulations after learning that his goals had clinched the first trophy of the season for Ange Postecoglou’s side. 

“Just after we won the cup, I received messages from Iniesta and Nakamura,” he said yesterday. “They’d sent them first thing on Monday morning from Japan. It’s pleasing for me that they did that and are looking at my progress. It meant a lot to me.”

Still, the cheers of the Celtic faithful and the praise of his manager and team mates following the 2-1 triumph over Hibs at the weekend mattered more to Furuhashi than the good wishes of those football icons.

The 26-year-old, who was unknown in this country when he arrived in a £4.6m transfer from Vissel Kobe back in July, is a huge fans’ favourite at Parkhead. He has impressed with his work rate, pace, vision and sharpness in the final third and has been on target no fewer than 16 times.

However, he knows the backing that he has received from his coach, his fellow squad members and supporters has been instrumental to his success here and admitted that he was pleased to repay them all with some silverware. 

“I can’t quite describe in words when it comes to the bond I have with the Celtic supporters,” he said. “I do believe that it’s very strong.

“I’m just very grateful and thankful for them to accept somebody who has come from Japan to play here. I just want to pay back by playing better in every game. That’s what I intend doing. 

“I’m also very shocked at how strong the bond is between our manager and all my team mates as there have been a lot of new players this season. 

“It’s because of everyone’s support here that I’m able to play my best football. I feel very lucky to have that. I’m so happy to be with the people here.”

Furuhashi added: “It (the Premier Sports Cup win) was the best memory so far for me in football. Obviously we still have to continue getting on with the season. But for me it was such a great evening.

“I just went home as usual afterwards. I spent the evening in a very normal way. But it was really good to celebrate with everybody at the stadium. 

“I think a lot of people had a good evening. I’m just happy to share good news with our supporters.” 

It says much about the environment that Postecoglou has created at Celtic since taking over in the summer that Furuhashi has settled in so quickly; he has limited English and conducted his interview yesterday through an interpreter.

But he takes daily lessons to improve his language skills and is hopeful that he will be able to hold conversations with his colleagues in the not-too-distant future.

“I really want to communicate with my team mates, the staff and everybody,” he said. “So I’m actually studying very hard at the moment. I hope to improve quickly. It’s very important.

“Life in Glasgow has been great so far. It’s really easy to live here and it’s becoming my favourite place to live. Unfortunately, I can’t go out too much at the moment due to the circumstances. But once things settle down a bit more I would love to explore Glasgow more.” 

Postecoglou knew about Furuhashi from the time that he spent in charge of Yokohama F Marinos in Japan and has admitted that he will look to both the J League and the Asian market to strengthen his squad in future.

Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi and Daizen Maeda, who all play alongside the forward in their national team, have been linked with moves to Glasgow ahead of the January transfer window.

Their compatriot, though, is concentrating fully on performing as well as he can for Celtic in their coming matches.

“In terms of the rumours and different players who might be joining Celtic, honestly I’m not that sure what’s happening,” he said. “I’m not too aware of it. 

“All I can say is that I just need to focus on my own game. I have to take it one game at a time and focus on my own play.”

The rising Covid-19 infection rates around the country are having a major impact on football in Scotland and Furuhashi is uncertain if he will have to play for Japan in Qatar 2022 qualifiers against China and Saudia Arabia in January. 

“In terms of my own schedule, I’m not sure,” he said. “I don’t think about the future too much. All I’m doing is focusing on the next game. I can’t comment on where I’ll be playing next month as I don’t know yet.”

When Furuhashi spoke to Nakamura, who is still revered in the East End of Glasgow some 12 years after departing, in the close season he was told not to be daunted at being likened to him.

So he has taken being described as the new Henrik Larsson by some fans and pundits in his stride.

“I’m very shocked but happy to hear this,” he said. “Of course I am happy to be compared with Henrik Larsson. Every striker would like to hear that. But at the same time, I just need to focus on growing in my own way and in my own style.

“Right now I am focusing on one game at a time. I’m preparing for the next game with the team so that’s what I’m focusing on at the moment”

Quite when that will be is, with Scottish football having been thrown into a state of turmoil by coronavirus once again, unclear.

But one thing is for certain - when Kyogo Furuhashi next takes to the field he will give the opposition defence a torrid time.