Does anyone reckon Aussie media/journalists concentrate far too much on Japan in terms of Asian football?

Korean football is better than we thought

The news that Sydney FC defender Simon Colosimo looks set to move to the K-League comes as no real surprise. The veteran defender harbours World Cup ambitions, but unless he finds himself a club for the next three months, he won’t be on the plane to South Africa.

Colosimo has been courted by South Korean clubs before, with Chunnam Dragons going close to signing the much-travelled defender at the start of 2009.

Sydney FC’s failure to agree on a transfer fee scotched the deal then, but this time the out-of-contract stopper could be on the first plane over to the Land Of The Morning Calm once the dust settles on Saturday night’s Grand Final.

The move is unlikely to attract an outpouring of derision on A-League message boards that Colosimo is moving to a so-called “lesser league,” partly because the departure of a peripatetic 31-year-old is not necessarily seen as a crippling blow.

But surely some recent results have also played their part, with a largely domestic-based Korea Republic humbling the Socceroos in Seoul six months ago, while unfancied K-League outfit Pohang Steelers lifted the Asian Champions League trophy last December.

All credit to Adelaide United for beating defending champions Pohang in their Champions League opener last month, but perhaps there’s a growing realisation that Korean football is not quite the step down in class that many Australian fans originally thought.

Jade North certainly discovered a competitive environment when he lobbed up at Incheon United, although it was probably the fact that Serbian coach Ilija Petkovic simply didn’t rate him that persuaded North to up sticks to Norwegian side Tromsø.

Watching the highlights of FC Seoul’s top-of-the-table clash with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors this week, I was struck by just how much there is to admire about the Korean game.

The late miss from FC Seoul striker Jung Jo-Gook was comical – not only because it was a simple chance – but also because the pyrotechnicans on hand inadvertently set off the post-goal fireworks.

But aside from Jung’s blemish, all the hallmarks of Korean football were on display – the rapid movement, the crisp passing and the more physical style that sets the K-League apart from its better-known Japanese counterpart.

There are still plenty of problems in Korean football, of course, not limited to a penchant for signing mediocre foreigners over local talent.

Military side Gwangju Sangmu regularly finish bottom – not surprisingly, since their players only spend two years with the club and Gwangju can’t sign any foreigners – while attendance figures across the league appear to be routinely exaggerated.

Nevertheless, what the K-League does offer are some decent wages and a more robust style of football than is found in neighbouring Japan.

These days it’s also an unpredictable league, with no less than five different winners claiming the title in the past five seasons.

Current holders Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors can claim former Middlesbrough striker Lee Dong-Gook and giant front man Sim Woo-Yeon among their ranks, and the team from Jeolla Province once again look the side to beat in 2010.

They’ll face some stiff competition from perennial challengers Seongnam Ilhwa, the ambitious Pohang and capital club FC Seoul, while Colosimo’s two potential suitors Chunnam and Incheon will also hope to have their say in the title race.

Regardless of whom Colosimo signs for – and that’s provided that he does join a club in South Korea – he can expect a warm welcome when he touches down in the ancient land.

There’s a healthy respect for Australian footballers in South Korea, and recent results suggest that the feeling may soon be mutual.

It’s a shame that we don’t see much Korean football on Australia TV, but should Simon Colosimo make the K-League his next port of call, he’ll certainly hope that Pim Verbeek is keeping close tabs on him.

Does anyone reckon Aussie media/journalists concentrate far too much on Japan in terms of Asian football?

Defeat with honour won’t help Asian football
By Mike Tuckerman

Japan's Yuichi Komano, left, cries as he leaves the pitch after the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Paraguay and Japan at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, Tuesday, June 29, 2010. japan lost 4-5 following the shootout. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A tearful Yuichi Komano will feature prominently on the front pages of the insatiable Japanese press, and discussion of Japan’s “honourable defeat” will get air time on practically every TV and radio show across The Land Of The Rising Sun.

But Japan’s penalty shoot-out defeat to Paraguay won’t help the Japanese national team, nor will it do much for the standing of Asian football around the world.

That’s because as impressive as Japan’s turnaround at this World Cup was, it won’t be enough to convince the Eurocentric and South American-obsessed world media that Asian teams can play good football.

Regrettably, there wasn’t too much good football on display from Japan overnight – although I don’t agree with SBS analyst Craig Foster’s post-match claim that “the right team went through” simply because Paraguay employed a more adventurous game plan.

To suggest as much overlooks Japan’s impressive defensive discipline, their intelligent use of set pieces and the fact that the width of the crossbar twice came to Paraguay’s rescue at crucial junctures of the match.

No, “defeat with honour” won’t help because ultimately it will become just another hard-luck story used by the Japanese press to perpetuate the myth of heroic failure – at a time when Japanese football is crying out for some success.

It’s no coincidence that the bleach-blonde Keisuke Honda was named Man of the Match in the wake of the defeat, with the supremely talented CSKA Moscow attacker breaking the team mould to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Equally unsurprising was the sight of Honda shooting instead of passing to unmarked team-mate Yoshito Okubo midway through the first half, when in the past Japanese players have tended to delegate responsibility to anyone but themselves.

Honda’s impressive arrival on the world stage is mirrored by the decent tournament form of winger Daisuke Matsui and skipper Makoto Hasebe – two more players who ply their trade in Europe rather than the domestic J. League.

That Matsui finally came good after a series of patchy displays for the national team is testament to coach Okada’s staying power, and the bespectacled tactician deserves some praise for turning Japan’s fortunes around.

His decision not to start former pin-up boy Shunsuke Nakamura was a wise one, with the Yokohama F. Marinos midfielder palpably unfit and unquestioningly out of sorts.

Okada has prior form when it comes to omitting media darlings – he left Kazu Miura out of his 1998 World Cup squad – and the stubborn strategist was never bothered about breaking the hearts of teen girls up and down Japan.

The problem for Japanese football is that most of those girls will now go back to writing love letters to baseball stars, the domestic press will not question just how close Japan came to reaching a first ever quarter-final appearance, and the rest of the world won’t give Asian football the credit it deserves.

Had Okada employed some slightly more attacking tactics, Japan may well have struck the one goal required to knock out a cagey Paraguay side.

Instead it’s another case of “so near, yet so far” for a team that came within inches of celebrating an historic passage through to the final eight of a World Cup.

Forget about the clichés of Japanese football being on the rise – it rose in 1998 – and it has been challenging Japan’s favourite pastime of baseball ever since.

But Japan missed a golden opportunity to strike a chord for Asian football, and ultimately their valiant performances in South Africa will be all but forgotten by the time Brazil 2014 rolls around.

Japan should be commended for flying the flag for Asian football so admirably at a tournament in which many – myself included – expected them to fail.

Yet in the cold, hard light of day I just wonder if with a little more self-belief, and a little less conservatism, the Samurai Blue might have achieved so much more.


http://www.theroar.com.au/2010/06/30/defeat-with-honour-wont-help-asian-football/