The 2021 Scottish League Cup final is a significant one in the eyes of the Celtic fans.
After suffering a rare trophyless season in Neil Lennon‘s final spell at the club, Celtic had to undertake a rebuilding project under Ange Postecoglou as a host of first-team stars departed Paradise after the COVID season.
Scott Brown’s retirement coupled with the departure of players like Odsonne Edouard, Kristoffer Ajer and Ryan Christie meant that Postecoglou had a huge job on his hands to rebuild the Celtic first-team.
Kyogo Furuhashi was one of the Australian’s first signings and was a revelation at the club. His goals kept put Celtic on course to win the title back from Rangers.
But there was a point where the Japanese international could have missed one of the most important games of Celtic’s season and former Head of Sports Science, Anton McElhone reveals how he managed to help Furuhashi recover for it in time.
How the Furuhashi Final was saved
The 2021 League Cup final will always be known as the one that put Kyogo on the map for Celtic. His superb double clinched the cup after going behind to Hibs and sparked belief in the team that catapulted them to the league title.
However, a hamstring injury threatened to rule the talisman out of that iconic game but McElhone shared how a Harry Kane-inspired rehab program got the Japanese striker ready for the Hampden final.
McElhone said [The Athletic], “His hamstring injury should have kept him out for weeks but Ange asked the medical staff if there was any possibility we could get him ready.
“My reference was that we had done something similar at Spurs with Harry Kane to play Real Madrid a few years before, so I did the rehab for seven or eight days.
“We got him back and it was worth it because he scored two goals (in a 2-1 win) and we got that first medal, which was the game changer.”
In Kyogo’s maiden season, his unique attacking style earned 20 goals in 33 appearances and fired Celtic to a league and cup double. However, his hamstring injury returned to haunt him.
After the December final, the Japanese broke down 16 minutes into the 3-1 win over St Johnstone and didn’t return to the first-team fold until April and the top-six split.
Furuhashi scored four goals in the final six games to wrestle the title back from our Glasgow rivals and tee up Celtic for their record-breaking eighth domestic treble the following season.