Asian Football: The World Game's poor cousin?

The 14th Asian Cup has kicked off amidst a blaze of spectacular football and upset results. Vietnam recorded their first ever Asian Cup finals victory, beating the United Arab Emirates in front of 40,000 fanatical fans at My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi. Indonesia scored a stunning 2-1 win over a powerful Bahrain, whilst Thailand chipped in with their first ever win at the finals, beating Oman 2-0 with a clinical display of precision counter-attacking football. The so-called giants have all struggled - Japan were held to a 1-1 draw by Qatar, Australia came within a whisker of losing to Oman before a late Tim Cahill equaliser, and it was then the turn of the Qatari's to conjure a late equaliser, to snatch a 1-1 draw with a rampaging Vietnam. The football has been pulsating, the goals have been glorious, the stars are on show. So why has the world's media turned their backs on the competition?

Undoubtedly the fact that both the Copa America and the FIFA under-20 World Cup have been taking place at the same time that the Asian Cup kicked off, has not helped. Yet to read some European newspapers you would think that the only competition going on in world football is between English Premier League clubs trying to outdo each other with their next over-the-odds purchase of another mediocre B-grade star. It's not as if European football is not represented at the Asian Cup - several Iran stars ply their trade in the German Bundesliga, Celtic's Player Of The Year Shunsuke Nakamura is the star man in the Japan midfield, Oman goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi is on the books at Bolton whilst virtually the entire Australian team is cobbled together from players who ply their trade in England, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands or Turkey.

Co-hosting the event in four nations - Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia has diluted support somewhat, particularly with Thai and Malay fans having offered only lukewarm support of the tournament so far. Yet with Thailand set to clash with Australia in a match of monumental significance in the final game of Group A, Bangkok's Rajamangala National Stadium could be rocking to the tune of 60,000 hitherto indifferent Thai's. Likewise crowds at Indonesia's Gelara Bung Karno Stadium will only get bigger - and there were some 60,000 in attendance when Indonesia beat Bahrain, whilst Japan have the most uncomfortable-looking final matchday encounter of all, at a zealously sold-out My Dinh Stadium where they will face an exuberant Vietnam.

That high quality of football on offer makes the relative lack of interest from the European media in particular, somewhat of a shame. While European clubs fall over themselves to "exploit" Asian fans with off-season junkets to the Far East that are little more than an exercise in selling shirts, it's a pity that the cross-cultural exchange of football is not yet a two-way street.