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Editorial Sept 2010
Soccerphile Editorial - September 2010
Under-17 Women's World Cup 2010 - Nuturing Young Talent
It has gone largely unnoticed in the world of football that not only are two Asian nations contesting the final of the 2010 Under-17 Women's World Cup on Sunday but three made it to the last four.
Old rivals Japan and South Korea meet for the title and Japan's semi-final victory over North Korea prevented an all-Korean final that would have made headlines around the world. Even so, the fact that Asia's two best performers at the 2010 World Cup are meeting in the final of a global event, albeit on a much smaller scale is hugely encouraging.
With success too at the Under-20 Women's World Cup and the relative good performances at the main World Cup in South Africa, it has been a good few weeks for Asian football.
More importantly however it shows the people in the region that technically their players can match it with the best in the world. It is a reminder that Spanish, Dutch or German players are not born at the top of the world game; natural talent is found, nurtured and coached.
In most of Asia that is not the case but the grass roots are starting to strengthen and this success shows that the future can be very bright, if the right systems and development are put in place. Asia is behind most European countries in this regard but if there is one thing that history has taught us is that when some Asian nations put their minds to achieving something, they get there more often than not. In many instances, it boils down to a case of political will - which is why the final is a nudge in the ribs of administrators and executives all over the world's largest continent.
Japan are ahead in this. The Japan FA has put in place long-term plans for the development of football at which the ever-interesting and improving J-League is at the pinnacle. Dividing the nation into regions in which to find and develop talent and then investing in coaches and facilities, has started to produce more and more promising youngsters. And there is a thriving private sector in Japan when it comes to coaching youngsters, something that happens much less elsewhere for various reasons.
South Korea is more hit and miss. The nation produces talent that comes through, sometimes despite the nation's system than because of it. Too much is dependent on luck. If your talent is noticed early enough, you can be placed on the path that many of Asia's best ever players have travelled upon. If you are unlucky, then not much happens. Only now, is a more consistent policy being put into place and only now is the realization coming that while Koreans always seem to be able to produce technically sound and athletic players by the score, this is not always a given. China's size and massive bureaucracy has been a problem while the message is only just starting to get through to south and south-east Asia.
All the development programmes all over the continent should take heart from the events of the past week. Young East Asian women have mixed it with and then lorded it over the best in the world. The Asian game has long held the European scene as one that will forever be unsurpassed but the talent in Asia is no worse than in other places in the world. This change in attitude, that Asian talent is a natural match for any other in the world is a simple one to understand but takes times for fans, long accustomed to worshipping far-flung heroes to really believe. Eastern delights just tend to be better hidden with less people looking for it and less people even knowing how to look for it.
If you build it, they may take time to come through but a sustained and consistent system that is properly funded and managed would in the medium-term future help to establish Asia as a force to be reckoned with in terms of talent.
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