Football’s Asian century is still on hold
The region has a lot of failings to face up to.
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South Korea’s Son Heung-min looking dejected after the team’s match with South Africa on June 24, which saw the Asian team fail to qualify for the knockout stage of the World Cup.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Gearoid Reidy
In the early 2000s Sepp Blatter, the then head of football’s governing body FIFA, spoke of where he saw the sport going.
“In Asia, you have more than half the world’s population,” he said. “The future of football must be in Asia.” With a clear link between finances and on-pitch success, it was a common sentiment for the growing region, and as the World Cup opened in Japan and South Korea in 2002, many predicted the new century would see a winner emerge from this part of the world.
