The A-League has had its fair share of Asian players through the doors. Ryo Nagai, Sergio van Dijk (kind of), Hiroyuki Ishida, Song Jin-Hyung. Oh, and Shinji Ono.
Granted, there has been a mixed success rate and far fewer than there should be – more of an indictment on the scouting mentality of Australian clubs than the talent pool emanating from Asia – but it’s a sign of the times.
With Australia now cemented in the Asian football landscape and the AFC Champions League draw tossing up some mouthwatering ties for local clubs, its obvious that the link between clubs here and in Asia should improve.
Former Central Coast boss Graham Arnold appears to have poached his former player Michael McGlinchey for new club Vegalta Sendai, with personal terms the only hurdle to overcome.
Fortunately, the one-time Socceroos coach has promised not to raid the Mariners further, but having an Australian at the helm of a Japanese club could present a number of opportunities for players to make a step into Europe.
Arnold is not the first Australian to coach on the continent, but he is by far the most prolific.
Although he was the one who said earlier this year that “there are too many foreigners in the A-League”, there appears to be a growing path for both players and coaches.
The players
Eddy Bosnar, Joel, Ryan and Adam Griffiths, Erik Paartalu, Josh Kennedy, Lucas Neill and Alex Wilkinson are among the dozens of Aussies plying their trade in Asia.
There are a bucketload more Australians over there than there are Asian players over here, and that is where the improvement must be made.
There seems to be little problem for players wanting to move from the A-League to the J-League, K-League, Chinese Super League and the like.
But for one reason or another, A-League scouts are more focused on eastern Europe than our neighbouring leagues.
Japan star Naohiro Takahara emerged as the latest player keen on a move to the A-League last week, spurred by his former teammate Ono.
Right across the content there are talented youngsters and veterans still near the top of their game – something Australian clubs must take advantage of.
In 2009, the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) backed the proposal for an Asian marquee player rule, which would have made one Asian player available outside the salary cap.
Of course, the international and Australian marquee rules now allow clubs to sign top quality players, but it is worth revisiting the addition of an Asian exemption.
The fans
Western Sydney Wanderers’ pre-season tour of Asia in September was a crafty one. Ahead of their Asian Champions League debut, matches in Japan and China gave them not only a taste of the competition they will face, but a chance to reach out to a new crop of fans.
While Asian football is scarcely followed by Australians, Asian Champions League aside, there is significant potential to boost the A-League’s international appeal.
With 4.3 billion people across the continent, it makes sense.
Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and China have all been exposed to the A-League as part of the global broadcasting deal and Melbourne Victory’s qualification to the ACL group stages would only serve that further.
The organisation
Asian clubs have plenty of experience dealing with big money, big players and a significant fan-base.
With the A-League battling to become one of Asia’s powerhouses on the domestic front, there is plenty to learn from the structure of Guangzhou Evergrande, FC Seoul and co.
Griffo
Roar Guru
Lets not forget Song Jin-Hyung from South Korea...debut in the HAL3 semi-final v Mariners and played 53 matches for the Jets. He was a playmaker in the mould of Nicky Carle, who left the season before for Turkey after winning the Johnny Warren medal in HAL2. Could do with a Song or two at the Jets right now...
Towser
Guest
Maybe realfootball we switch the s&t around in lest & drop the we ,then read it again.
Midfielder
Guest
Anyone else think the 90's side was better than the 00"s side... Team of the decade | Men’s 1990 – 1999 FIFA World Cup campaigns in 1993 & 1997; Confederations Cup 1997; Olympic Games 1992 & 1996 Formation *4-3-3 Coach Eddie Thompson 1 Mark Bosnich (GK) 2 Mehmet Durakovic (D) 3 Milan Ivanovic (D) 4 Alex Tobin (D) CAPTAIN 5 Stan Lazaridis (D) 6 Robbie Slater (MF) 7 Paul Okon (MF) 8 Ned Zelic (MF) 9 Aurelio Vidmar (D) 10 Mark Viduka (D) 11 Frank Farina (D) Team of the decade | Men’s 2000 – 2013 FIFA World Cup campaigns in 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2013; FIFA World Cup Finals 2006 & 2010; Confederations Cup 2001 and 2005; Olympic Games 2000, 2004 & 2008. Formation *4-3-3 Coach Guus Hiddink 1 Mark Schwarzer (GK) 2 Tony Vidmar (D) 3 Lucas Neill (D) CAPTAIN 4 Craig Moore (D) 5 Scott Chipperfield (D) 6 Luke Wilkshire (MF) 7 Marco Bresciano (MF) 8 Brett Emerton (MF) 9 Tim Cahill (F) 10 John Aloisi (F) 11 Harry Kewell (F)
Midfielder
Guest
Best Austrian teams since 1963... http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/290633,ffa-name-their-teams-of-the-decades.aspx
Mantis
Roar Guru
Interesting to see if Arnie strikes up some kind of link with the Mariners, which would see players both go there and come here. I know he is likely to get McGlinchey (huge loss for us), and that he said he would take no one else, but over the next few years who knows what might happen.
Mantis
Roar Guru
+1
Mike
Roar Guru
I just go on Google. As Ben said above, goal.com and the AFC website can deliver some updates. Some news can be tricky to find though. For example, the reform of the Indonesian league, which was HUGE news for their country, is only a couple of sites on google.
Phutbol
Guest
The big asain leagues pay too well to get quality imports over to the A-league unless as stated an Asian marquee position is created. This I think is the main reason we havent seen anywhere near the number of Asian's in Oz as we have sent over there. I dont think its a scouting issue at all, just plain old money.
realfootball
Guest
Qu is largely forgotten, but I think he was one of the best imports to grace the A League.
realfootball
Guest
Lest we forget Miron's "Chinese Beckham"...
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
The Asian Football Confederation site has a fair bit of news : the-afc.com , so does Goal.com. If you go to the Goal.com site you have a suite of editions available to you at the top so you can check out the latest in Korean. Singaporean, Indian, Japanese football etc.
premys
Guest
Hey Mike myself being a ignorant aussie that can only speak English, where would be the best place for me to visit on the Internet for all things Asian football???
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Well, Japan and Korea managed to get out of their groups fairly comfortably in 2010 (at the expense of African & European teams) and in 2002 Korea made it all the way to the Semis. The Japanese women's side, Nadeshiko, won the World Cup in a game agains the Americans .........I guess it's time for you to change views :D
Franko
Guest
Qu was a brilliant footballer, unfortunately got hit off his bike whilst cycling in the Adelaide Hills and never recovered fully. (don't get me started on the car vs cycling rant) Adelaide City used to have a pretty handy Korean too, Dong Ki Kim was his name.
Towser
Guest
Hyuk-Su Seo a South Korean played at the Roar from 2005-2009 for 72 appearances. Was solid but not spectacular. Should we (Roar) have done better overall in getting more Asian players,certainly. Should we have tried to get better players than Seo,definitely.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Shengqing Qu was there on Day 1 of the A-League. Certainly we haven't been as good at recruiting within our region as we could. Perhaps it is time to bring in the 3+1.
Towser
Guest
Never going to happen,wishful thinking,the culture here is entirely different. Asia needs to catch up with South America no doubt about that, but each Asian country improving its football in relation to its own culture,it cannot emulate them.
wisey_9
Roar Guru
Ha! An Australian team with a predominantly European heritage, competing in the Asian confederation, playing in the style of a South American team.
Mike
Roar Guru
I don't think anyone would doubt that the South American teams are far better than the Asian ones, but it's a lot harder to form closer links with SA. Too far away, too culturally indifferent. Maybe football academies/workshops/exchanges/scholarship programs can work well, but I think our link with SA is limited. Asia, on the other hand, is right on our doorstep, and is an economic goldmine. Their playing quality might not be as prestigious at this stage, but every year more and more people are turning to heads to the Asian continent. Asia = investment.
Mike
Roar Guru
It looks like it will be a seperate competition at this stage, which is a cool concept. So each country would have their own domestic leagues, and then 1 or 2 teams from each country would play in an ASEAN league. It should help to bring out the best from Southeast Asia, and will help to give them a boost in terms of football. It's also looking likely that Singapore will create a whole new team for the comp. Considering their small population, one team covering all of Singapore wouldn't be all that hard to do. Indonesia would be an interesting one. I'm curious to see how they go about it. If they have one team for Jakarta (9 million people) it could work well. Or better yet, a team for the whole of Java (138 million). Considering the Indonesian Super League has only just been reformed, and the new version of the league is set to start next month, I'm curious to see whether they create a new team or send an existing one. Lots of pride on offer if your team can win the Super League, but it's at the cost of participating in their domestic league. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens. Either way, the Super Cup has full AFC support, so it's looking good at the moment.