Asia Looking Enviously At Africa

Comment: Asia Looking Enviously At Africa

The coverage being given to the African Nations Cup in the international media is sobering for any fan of Asian football. A tournament held every two years is getting infinitely more play in the world’s press than the quadrennial eastern equivalent.

The 2007 Asian Cup may have been much more widely reported than any of the past competitions staged on the giant continent but, in football terms at least, it received little serious coverage until Iraq’s remarkable journey to the title. That fairy-tale ending made pages both front and back. In contrast, the Ghana goings-on are filling column inches everywhere, even in the middle of the European season.

Perhaps the Asian Cup should be held every two years instead and in January. Then we could read debates in the European press about how the competition is ruining the chances of domestic sucess for Chelsea or Arsenal or almost any other club.

Problem is, most leading clubs wouldn’t notice. Few Asian players have made themselves indispensable in the big five European leagues. Celtic is the one giant that would really kick up a fuss at losing Shunsuke Nakamura. A little to the south at Old Trafford, Park Ji-sung may not have the same automatic starter status that his Japanese counterpart enjoys but Manchester United wouldn’t be too happy about the situation.

The African competition is different. Only four Premier League clubs, Derby County, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Wigan Athletic, have no representatives in Ghana. Players from seven teams involved in the group stage of the Champions League will line up for Ivory Coast. Lothar Matthaus isn't surprised. "No team in Europe can stay at the top of competition without players from Africa," the German said recently. “Their football has developed so much in the past 10 years. Look at last year's Under-17 World Cup - Nigeria and Ghana won against countries like Brazil and Argentina. That says it all.”

The fact is that Asia hasn’t yet produced a genuine world star like Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba or Micheal Essien, or going a little further back, George Weah. With such household names on display, it is little wonder that the African Nations Cup is a draw for newspapers, websites and broadcasters around the world. African football just seems that much sexier than its Asian equivalent at the moment.

Not every African player is so successful but such trailblazers make it easier for others to follow and it is difficult to imagine a leading striker from one of the top African nations not being short of offers from clubs in England and elsewhere if he became available.

For Asians, it is not the same. Cho Jae-jin has become a regular for the South Korean national team, played at the 2006 World Cup and consistently scored goals in his three years in Japan. Despite that and the fact that he is available on a free transfer, Cho is struggling to join the ranks of Fulham, a team in serious danger of the drop. Even when Koreans, Japanese and Chinese players are signed by European clubs, whispers of 'commercial benefits' and 'new markets' are never far away.

It is only a matter of time before an Indian or a Chinese player makes waves in leagues both premier and champion but Africa has had a huge head start. The once dark continent has been lit up by a criss-cross of scouting networks that pinpoint promising talent seemingly almost as soon as it steps onto a pitch. Only now are similar systems being set-up in the east but it is starting - one of the smaller Premier League clubs, Reading FC has three Koreans in its youth team and Iranian, Korean, Chinese and Japanese players have shown that they can hold their own.

That, of course, is a double-edged sword. The thought of scores of Asian teenagers being plucked by eager European clubs is not necessarily pleasant. The stars returning to Africa for this month’s jamboree are rarely sighted by their compatriots these days. Fans in Ivory Coast and Ghana are just as proud of their stars as Koreans or Iranians but it would be nice to have a little more local talent in local leagues.

For the moment, Asian fans just have to accept that for the rest of the world, Ivory Coast facing Cameroon or Ghana against Nigeria is a bigger draw than Japan and Saudi Arabia or South Korea and Iran. It won’t always be this way. Australia's presence will help as will a good 2010 World Cup.

At a less glamorous level, the Asian Football Confederation, an organization that often seems to struggle with the big decisions, is doing a good deal of excellent work at the grass roots in Asia and while it will be some time before those green shoots are visible all over the continent, it will happen.

In the meantime, just enjoy the football.