Manchester United winger Park Ji-Sung believes that the time is not far before a team from Asia will be lifting the fabled World Cup trophy.
The South Korean, who retired from International football after last year’s Asian Cup, has voiced his backing for the continent’s football crazed countries to reach the pinnacle of the game.
FIFA’s motto for its Eastern region proudly states ‘The future is Asia.”
A fact which might have provoked a couple of laughs a few years ago, but since the turn of the decade, more and more teams from the world’s largest continent have begun to churn out talents that can match their European and South American counterparts.
Take http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Japan-c2928 for example. The country has produced sensational stars such as
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Shinji-Kagawa-c33364, not to mention Arsenal’s highly rated
Ryo Miyaichi.
Out of the best in Asia, it is the Samurai Warriors who look most likely to challenge for top honours at the world cup and given how impressively they have progressed, it’s not farfetched to suggest that the team could go on and win the greatest prize the
game has to offer in a couple of years.
Manchester United midfielder http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Park-Ji-Sung-c29147 also agreed with this opinion and claimed that teams from his native area could become potential world beaters in the future.
"At the moment it is still difficult (for an Asian nation to win the World Cup)," he said.
"There is a gap between us and the world-class level, so we still have to improve. But in the past few years, the quality of Asian football has gotten better and we have proved we can deal with world-class teams. So, if Asian teams work hard and continue
to develop, one day they will have success at the World Cup."
He also stressed that Asian players need to put in a lot of elbow grease in order to make it in Europe but with determination and the right attitude it was possible to succeed at the highest echelon of football.
"The most important thing you have to do (to be successful) is work hard, but the players also need to have the ability to play in Europe,” he said.
The World Cup comes to Asia once again in 2022, with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Qatar-c2986 being first-time hosts.
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