The psychology behind what motivates us as humans is as varied as it is complex. Circumstance is generally the precursor for what sets our needs and wants, shaping our paths in life…
Tag: asia
When Pakistan registered a heroic draw against Asian champions Iraq in 2007, it could have been the start of a better future for the national game
Miguel de Unamuno, a Spanish philosopher, novelist and poet outlined in his book The Tragic Sense of Life that the very thing that makes us human is the fact we suffer. If…
THERE IS AN EERIE CALM TO THE CITY OF NAGASAKI, which is difficult to gauge. It is a spellbindingly friendly city, one which is rightly proud of a heritage which stretches back…
In early 1976, shortly after the dusts of war had started to settle on a now unified Vietnam, Lê Bửu, General Director of the Sports Administration Department, was tasked with heading south…
It’s incredible that in the connected modern world, Iraq’s most promising young defender saw headlines about himself joining the fight against jihadists
FOOTBALL IN INDIA IS GROWING ALL THE TIME. Right now, the place is abuzz with anticipation ahead of the Under-17 World Cup finals which are set to kick off in October, and…
WHEN STEPHEN CONSTANTINE TOOK CHARGE of the Indian national team for the second time, he found out that Indian football’s elite academy recruited players from just two youth tournaments in New Delhi.…
AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL MADE A SEISMIC SHIFT in 2006, moving to a different continent as the country left the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and joined the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It wasn’t the…
DRUG ABUSE, toad-infested football pitches and almost non-existent funding: the conditions outlined above might not be considered the most suitable for starting a national football team with aspirations of joining FIFA –…
Trusted at PSV and Manchester United in the biggest games by the most experienced managers, Park Ji-sung is one of South Korea’s greatest footballers
Illustration by Federico Manasse Before the summer of 2002, Asia was largely forgotten by the footballing world. A general awareness existed among top-level clubs that the continent offered large swathes of untapped…
Illustration by Federico Manasse. Check out more of his work here SADDAM HUSSEIN WAS NOT PLEASED. And when Saddam Hussein was not pleased, bad things tended to happen. The object of his…
THERE IS A JAPANESE PHRASE which translates roughly to “the frog in the well knows nothing of the great ocean”. A general interpretation is that those who do not experience the world…
THE NAME Carlos Queiroz provokes disparate sentiments in the minds of supporters of the clubs and countries which he has coached or managed throughout the years. Portuguese fans, in general, view him…
ASK A FOOTBALL EXPERT about the powerhouses of Asian football and the answers would be familiar: Australia, South Korea, Iran and Japan. Uzbekistan may not be on that list, but its history…
AS WE WALKED into the Gelora Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia on 29 July 2007, expectations were not high, but at least we had an exit strategy in place. Having taken…
Gulf countries have rarely made an impact on the global stage in footballing terms. The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) six member states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United…