Don't know if anyone else has read this uefa.com article from last year, but it has to be one of the most cynical and insulting ones I've read on the motivations for Asian players getting signed in Europe. "Arsenal FC, Everton FC, Fulham FC and Manchester City FC can all certify that bringing in players from Asia automatically increases a club's profile in what is an increasingly important market. And a bigger profile means more profits from merchandising." "Karl-Heinz Rummenigge of FC Bayern München has acknowledged that buying "an Asian superstar, probably a Japanese player" would provide a valuable foothold in the Asian market."
South Korean striker Ahn was offered a few months ago a transfer to a Spanish club, forget which, but the deal fell through b/c the club insisted that he comes as a "package", i.e., bring a Korean company as a sponsor. And since no company would do it, the deal did not materialize. Everton has a Chinese company as a sponsor, and I am not sure if the same thing happened, i.e., he brought a sponsor to the team. Seems like these clubs can take Asian players as they are, for their talent alone. They don't ask these things from players from other countries/continents. (as far as I know, at least) Although Ahn was the only one who was asked this, of all current/potential Korean exports, there are several more Koreans in Europe that just went as they are (as far as I know), so this doesn't happen ALL the time. Still, I think this is grievous, to say the least.
it's sad but true. although the marketing impact nowadays is not as significant as when the first few asian stars went to europe.
who cares. let them be. "one goal is enough against the Koreans" -Totti day before Korea v Italy 02 WC.
What about the persian lions? It might very well be true about European clubs buying east asians specially japanese players just because of marketing but what about Iranians? They only buy our players because of their talents. Did anybody see mahdavikia's match today? He was once again chosen the player of the match and is now only 1 assist behind the current leader to become a back to back king of assists in bundesliga no player in the history of bundesliga have won that honour 2 seasons in a row. He assisted 1 goal and after getting a penalty he converted it himself and added another goal to give HSV the victory. He was chosen as their best player last season and was the main factor they got into UEFA and Won the German cup So u think they bought him just for marketing?
results up to now Nakata 2goal 4assist Nakamura 2gol 2assist Inamoto 2goal 3assist Suzuki 5goal 3assist Takahara 4goal 2assist Yanagisawa 2assist Ono 2goal 2assist Toda 1assist These are not bad.They earn money and also achieve results.It stands to reason that many Europe clubs aim at Japanese players. However, big clubs make only money the target.should take care about them. But Japanese player's transfer money is expensive, I do not think that many players go there.
Re: What about the persian lions? I don't think the Iranian players are in Bundesliga for marketing. However, one of the main reasons why Bundesliga(of all other EU leagues) have Iranian players is because there is a huge Iranian community in Germany. There's quite a lot of Iranians and Turkish people living in Germany and that's why it's easier to see players there than other places. If Iran qualifies to Germany 2006, Iran can make their games into their home. In general, there are a lot of Iranians across Europe. So that's why you get to see Iranian youths in EU youth leagues from time to time.
i know suzuki's been regularly playing these days but didn't know he scored that much. it's great progress considering that he scored only 9 goals in his carer in j-league and took almost a year to score his first goal in belgium. when did ono score this season? i thought because of the barbaric display in the low-class-no-skill dutch league he's been injured 24/7. is takahara still playing as a forward? he's becoming more like a setup guy. i've been thinking these days that if only our players had lower price tag, we can send all those failures in j-leagu to the dutch league. it has greatest advantage for both japan and holland. for the japanese, just because holland is in europe it's a opportunity to sell more and more players in europe and since the level of play is quite low over there it's easy to outstand in the most of games and also regain confidence and wipe out all the pain they developed in more competitive j-league. for the dutch, they can not only expand the market to asia but also improve the quality of game in the league by inviting more and more quality japanese j-leaguers.
I agree with what everybody's saying.... it's ridiculous how clubs buy East Asian players simply for marketing purposes, as this can ruin such players' careers if they're left to rot on the bench for too long. Not to sound overly callus.... but perhaps Asian fans should bear some of the blame for this as well. Think about it - Inamoto goes to Fulham, and suddenly Japanese television carries Fulham matches, fans are snapping up kits with his name on the back, and the hordes of Japanese tourists who regularly visit London add a Fulham match to their intinerary. Same thing happened with the Japanese 'keeper who went to Portsmouth and warmed the bench, no? Koreans aren't as bad, as they mostly seem afraid of wearing football kit in public for some strange reason... but the scenario mentioned above also happens here. Lots of footie shirts here are PSV. If Hiddink, Yi Yeong-pyo and Bak Ji-seong were to leave, I reckon most of the PSV kits owned by Koreans would go straight in the rubbish bin. So too would iTV up in Incheon likely stop airing PSV matches. Aren't Koreans simply "using" PSV as a vehicle for promoting their own players, and not out of actual love for the club itself? How many non-Korean players at PSV do most Koreans know of, other than stars such as Kezman? Can Koreans who wear a PSV shirt even name the stadium where the club plays? Same thing in Japan - once Inamoto leaves Fulham, do you think Japanese TV will continue to air Fulham matches? Do you think Japanese tourists in London would bother visiting an Inamoto-less Craven Cottage in the future? Somehow, I doubt it.
Ah, but they only visit because Inamoto is getting regular playing time. Japanese fans didn't swarm to Portsmouth when Kawaguchi wasn't getting named to the squad. Inamoto Arsenal shirts didn't sell in Japan once fans realized he wasn't getting first team action. The same for Toda and Suzuki. Once the initial excitement wears off, fans don't just follow a team if the player isn't contributing.
i actually thought that the article was good. My definition of player's value players value = (their performance on the pitch + marketability) x risk Home based players naturally have lower risk. So in order for asians to make it to Europe, they need to sell more shirts or take a pay cut. i sound like a nerd now.
This is all true, but no one can take away the fact that without Inamoto Fulham would never have won the Intertoto Cup, which may be unimportant to most of us, but I am sure Fulham will take any piece of silverware they can get.
I take another stance. While our players going to Europe is a good thing, I say that they should stay in their domestic leagues. There are a plenty of U-17's working and training in Europe at an early age. Some even in South America. Good now we have talent. Now we just need to make the K-J Leagues up to European standards. China - Korea - Japan. The A3 Champions cup is a good start and some day we'll have players like Ronaldo playing in East Asia during their prime. OH I just dream.
The inter-toto isnt a cup as such, there is no silverware involved. Still i got a good laugh out of that so thanks
You should thank Ono. He scored against Glasgow Rangers in Glasgow and kicked out this helpless Scottish from UEFA Cup. and he assisted his team winning UEFA Cup.
what's glasgow rangers? are they like the grand canyon national park rangers? you know, if you go out for camping, just don't forget to extinguish fire. save the nature
note to self, don't listen to anything anyone says on Fox Sports World Report.............. Either way it got them into UEFA Cup, with an Inamoto hat trick in final!
The Sun Rises From The South THE SUN RISES FROM THE SOUTH the arrogance and the machismo of the italians the cockiness and the swagger of the argentinians the braggadocio and the contempt of the portuguese the superciliousness and overconfidence of the russians the chest thumping and assumptions of the french all suddenly evaporated, all vanished all gone, all swept away by the incredible footwork the surprising charisma the enduring persistence of the koreans, the senegalese and other lesser southern lights i chuckle as i observe racist british commentators on canadian television choking, swallowing their dismissive pronouncements on asian and african football that they so freely dished out only hours ago the cinderelas have refused to go home the side show acts have grabbed centre stage the six o’clock news is dominated by the revelry in seoul, kwangju and pyongyang no italian flags this evening on st laurent and other parts of downtown montreal no blaring car horns along yonge street and st. clair west in toronto but there is a party happening all night in korea town near the christie subway and the african drums will not be silenced in cote des neiges, notre dame des grace eglinton west, don mills and north york tonight we hear the clash and bong of the korean drums tonight we dance to the pulsating rythms of the djembe and tam tams and sing along to the melodies of ismael lo, baaba maal and yousour ndour tonight we celebrate the coming of age of african football tonight we cheer the wake up call from asian soccer tonight we thumb our noses at the colonial powers who have poached so much of africa’s and asia’s talent tonight we howl on them to bring it on..... the one true champion we all hold in awe is still in the race so let’s not get ahead of ourselves brazil composed of so much of africa and aboriginal turtle island and of working class hungry youth from the teeming favelas brazil is the one to beat ronaldo, rivaldo roberto carlos dunga and all the other dazzling talents in the famous yellow make us relive the glories of the famous peles and tostaos suddenly for me, the world cup has become even more interesting composed by onyango oloo montreal, 7:13 pm Tuesday, June 18, 2002