Kyogo Furuhashi admitted it was a joy to entertain the Celtic fans and play the kind of football he loves after netting a hat-trick on his home debut.
The Japan international added to the goal he scored against Jablonec on his first start as Celtic thrashed Dundee 6-0 on Sunday and gave 24,500 supporters a glimpse of the style of play demanded by new manager Ange Postecoglou.
The recent arrival from Vissel Kobe told the official Celtic website: “I had a really brilliant day and was a real joy to play my first match at Celtic Park in front of our fans.
“It was my first real experience of our great stadium and it will live with me forever.
“Football is about supporters and about us as players trying to make our fans happy. It is why we play the game and we all enjoyed doing that.
“I would like to thank the fans for supporting me and the rest of the boys so well. Even though the stadium was not quite full yet, there was a phenomenal atmosphere and we could tell that our fans were happy to be back supporting the club.
“I can see why people say it is one of the best stadiums in the world and one of the best atmospheres in football, and I can’t wait to feel it again when all our fans are back and the stadium is full.”
The 26-year-old, who had another three good chances to score, added: “It was really for nice for me to score three goals but, more importantly, it was great for the whole team to get such a great result and have such a good performance in our first home match in front of the fans.
“We scored some really good team goals too and we worked well together and played the kind of football I love.
“It seems as if everything has happened so quickly in the past few weeks, but it was just such a good feeling to be out there at Celtic Park. It is an amazing arena to play football in and it was great fun for me.”
