June 2008

17th June 2008

SCOTLAND’S top goalscorer Scott McDonald has today signed a new five-year contract with Celtic.

The Australian striker has been a tremendous success in his first season at the club, netting 31 goals for the Hoops to help Gordon Strachan’s side make it three-in-a-row.

And Celtic are delighted that the 24-year-old forward has committed his long-term future to the Scottish Champions.

Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell said: “This is great news for Celtic. It is well known that Scott loves playing for Celtic and he has a great affection for the club. He is also someone who performed brilliantly for Celtic last season.

“Our priority is always to keep our best and most committed players and the Board is delighted to support Gordon in his plans for the future by securing Scott on this long-term agreement.

“We will continue to do all we can to ensure that Celtic stays at the top of Scottish football.”

02nd June 2008

Nakamura leads Japan to 3-0 win over Oman in World Cup qualifier

Celtic playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura scored a goal and set up another Monday as Japan defeated Oman 3-0 in a 2010 World Cup qualifier.

Nakamura gave Japan a comfortable 3-0 lead four minutes into the second half when he beat Oman goalkeeper Ali Abdullah with a right-foot blast from the top of the area as the host recorded its second win in three games to boost its chances of reaching the next round of Asian qualifiers.

"Everybody did what they had to do,'' said Nakamura, playing in his first 2010 World Cup qualifier. "I thought it was going to be a low-scoring game but we were able to open things up a bit.''

Nakamura, who was called up by coach Takeshi Okada for Monday's match, initiated Japan's second goal with a long forward pass that Marcus Tulio Tanaka redirected to Yoshito Okubo, who fired home from close range in the 22nd minute.

Defender Yuji Nakazawa gave Japan a 1-0 lead 10 minutes in with a header off a Yasuhito Endo corner.

"There was a lot of pressure in the first half,'' said Okada. "But we were able to take the lead and then Shunsuke took the pressure off after the break.''

The loss was a setback for Oman, which won away in Thailand in its previous qualifier. It has two of its remaining three games at home, beginning with the return match against Japan on June 7.

The top two teams from each of the five Asian groups advance to the next round of qualifiers in September.

Japan surprisingly lost at Bahrain in its previous qualifier, prompting Okada to call up Nakamura as well as Europe-based players Daisuke Matsui of Le Mans and Wolfsburg's Makoto Hasebe.

Okada, who took over from Ivica Osim in December, was facing pressure after the loss to Bahrain and a scoreless draw with Paraguay in a friendly a week ago.