Footraveller Ueda Asahi Looking Forward to Southeast Asian Football Success

“Japan missed the 1994 World Cup in the United States with just seconds remaining. And for the 1998 World Cup in France, Japan won the playoffs with a golden goal. It was because of these two ‘hells’ (Doha-1993, where the Japanese cried) and ‘heaven’ (Johor Bahru-1997, where we got our revenge and cried tears of joy) that Japanese football improved drastically. 

Southeast Asian countries will also soon experience their own ‘heaven’ and ‘hell’ as Southeast Asia will play one of the most exciting, if not the most exciting, World Cup Qualifiers in the World Cup”

FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar: Asian Pride

“It was the same bulk of nations who featured in the 2018 edition in Russia, with Qatar the only addition this year. And it also proved to be a much better showing of home support for the Asian nations, as 3 countries progressed to the knockout stage compared to only 1 four years ago – Japan.

It is also the first time that 3 Asian countries made it past the group stage, beating the record of 2 in 2010 and 2002. Let us look at each of the 6 countries’ journeys in the World Cup 2022 and how they fared”

Kazuyoshi Miura, the boy who became KING

The Japanese have romanticised the concept of Kaizen – the pursuit of continuous improvement. Traditionally the word would be associated craftsmen or in business, most famously adopted by Toyota. Kazu is the very embodiment of this philosophy.

When asked by reporters about his future, he bursts out in laughter. “I might (retire) someday.”

He composes himself and with a straight face “If possible, I want to die as a player. That is my true feeling. So when I die, I want to be known as Kazuyoshi Miura, soccer player. Not a former player.”

Modern All-In-One Ohara Soccer Ground Serves All Urawa Reds Players’ Needs & Dreams

Apart from the extensive media coverage on Japanese football, another extremely encouraging sight was the turnout of Urawa Reds football fans watching the training session. There were easily 100 football fans, ranging from young boys to school girls and up to retiring elderly, at the mini grandstand eagerly waiting for their favourite players to say hi to them.