[골닷컴] Reporter Kim Hyeong-joong = Celtic FC of the Scottish Premier League, a traditional house, will visit Korea in July. National striker Oh Hyun-gyu will also stand in front of the Korean fans wearing a striped Celtic uniform.
An official familiar with European football recently told ‘Goal.com’ that “Celtic are going on a tour of Korea this summer. I understand you plan to visit Korea and Japan and play friendly games to prepare for the new season.” This is the first time that Celtic have made an official visit to Korea.
Celtic is a prestigious club that represents Scotland. Since its establishment in 1887, it has won the Scottish League 52 times and won the Scottish Cup 40 times, boasting its history and tradition. They are likely to win the league this season as well, but are currently leading the way, beating rivals Rangers in the ‘Old Firm Derby’ by 13 points. This is also the team where Oh Hyeon-gyu, who left Suwon Samsung in the professional football league K League 1 in January to challenge the European stage, is active.
He also has a deep relationship with Korea. In the past, Ki Sung-Yeong and Cha Doo-Ri, the “ki-cha duo,” lifted the championship trophy while playing together at Celtic. In particular, Ki Sung-yueng left FC Seoul in 2010 and played a major role at Celtic, and took advantage of this as a stepping stone to enter the Premier League and compete on the best stage for many years. Currently, Son Heung-min’s former Tottenham goalkeeper Joe Hart and Japanese neighbors Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda are active as key players.
Recently, Celtic officials were also spotted at the K-League stadium. As a result, the observations that they are working behind the scenes to recruit K-League players are spreading by word of mouth among domestic soccer fans.
Meanwhile, Oh Hyun-gyu, who burst onto the European stage last winter by signing a five-and-a-half-year deal with Celtic, took the opportunity to show off his skills to domestic football fans wearing a Celtic outfit. Oh Hyun-kyu has scored 3 goals in 14 appearances in all competitions since his transfer. In March, Jurgen Klinsmann, the coach of the national team, called him to play in an A game and he showed further development.
