Silent Lonesome Man

When Thailand lost 1-3 to the UAE and 0-4 to Iraq away in the latest 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, it was seen as a dent. Thailand was the only country from Southeast Asia to be there, though, to be frank, if you count member from the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), you may also think of Australia, the country where I have some connection over, due to my relatives studied in Down Under and some of my neighbours were students in here. But Australia and Thailand are totally two opposite polar. Australia has succeeded in establishing a name among Asia's mightiest, and a frequent World Cup participant since 2006, the year they joined the AFC. By contrast, Thailand has succeeded only in giving itself a supremacy in Southeast Asia - in fact, Thailand was, for a long time, the only Southeast Asian state to reach the final phase of World Cup qualifiers in Asia. Indonesia was the only World Cup participant there from Southeast Asia, though as a Dutch autonomous colony, it didn't p...

Oman. An interesting Arab country in the Gulf region. It's a Muslim nation, albeit of a different sect that has no alignment with either Shiite or Sunni. It's also a nation that is mentioned in the famous tale of Sinbad the Sailor. It's also renowned for its cultural diversity that set them apart from the rest of its Gulf brethren. Moreover, it has been practising peaceful diplomacy, trying to solve the problems of regional conflicts. The Omanis also set aside by being the biggest difference: they learn to develop everything, by themselves, instead of seeking foreigners to do their jobs. This is also quite true with the Omani team. The Omani football team has been mostly a small team in the past, but from the 1990s, Omani officials began a series of concrete moves with the hope to be more recognised on the Asian football stage, starting with its youth teams, the most successful being the U-17 team. Following the U-17 Oman's achievements, many of these youngsters were al...