Silent Lonesome Man

So, the two first matchdays for Vietnam ended, with no surprise to be made. Vietnam lost to Saudi Arabia away, then to Australia at home. With a lot of things to speak about, many Vietnamese are emotional. In my eyes, Vietnam had shown a surprisingly good form than initial expectation, even when concerns remain. A good show in the Land of Two Mosques Saudi Arabia has replaced the Turkish Ottoman Empire as the sole custodian of the Two Holy Cities, Mecca and Medina, where the Prophet Muhammad was born and died, since 1922. The Two Holy Cities alone provide Saudi Arabia wealth and power, adding with oil discovered in the Kingdom in 1936. However, Saudi Arabia was insignificant in Asian football until they began to divest the wealth for the World Cup and Asian Cup goals since the 1980s. Of course, Asian football was largely semi-professional, some were even amateur - Saudi Arabia got the benefits from a largely Asian football state very quickly. It was also the spearhead of the full profe...

When you spent the UEFA Euro 2020, one nation that would stun you the most was no other than Scotland. It's weird because Scotland was not just one of the 11 host nations in this pan-European edition (moved a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic), but also you must be shocked to see Scotland was among one of 24 nations to take part in the Euro - and getting a shameful early exit. Before the tournament, Scotland's last competitive tournament was the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. Scotland won only one point, a 1-1 draw to Norway. Since then, Scottish football misery has endured for two decades, before the Scots pulled out a shocking away win on penalties against Serbia in the playoffs of Euro 2020, which denied Serbia a chance to make a historic European debut since the independence of Montenegro but also brought Scotland to this competition, its third, after 25 years. Serbia, on the other hand, has to keep suffering. I am somewhat disgusted to see Scotland here, well, not because ...

When Cambodia was announced as host of the 2023 Southeast Asian Games (potentially moved to 2025 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), the first thing Cambodia wanted to do was to build a massive stadium that must rival some of the world's finest. It is not a secret that the Cambodian government announced that the new stadium, replacing the outdated Phnom Penh Olympics Stadium, have to reflect the prideful past. In the end, a Chinese firm won and built the stadium. With 75,000 capacity, it has already become the largest stadium in mainland Southeast Asia, surpassing even Thailand's Rajamangala that holds only 50,000. For relatively 15 million people with a quite low-income economy, the building of this stadium was enormous both by cost and by personnel. More than 500 people were involved in the projects, with the Chinese nearly 350; while thousands of workers worked days and nights; the Chinese designation was to be an expression of long, ancient Sino-Cambodian relations. An even smal...

This was one of the many images captured from the Mỹ Đình National Stadium, the largest sporting facility in entire Vietnam. You may see this was a football (or soccer) action on the field, yes, the match between Vietnam and Australia during the campaign for Qatar 2022. But, if you keep your eyes closer to the field, you may have to doubt this. I'm talking about Vietnam's widespread state corruption. The Mỹ Đình facilities were built in 2001 as an attempt to refurbish Vietnam's image on its path of economic reintegration following decades of isolation and international sanctions due to the war in Cambodia. And why it was built? Simply, for the 2003 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, by that time the largest sporting event had ever been hosted in the country. There were hopes that Vietnam could be guaranteed a special place for future international competitions in case of any football games scheduled here. The 2003 SEA Games finally broke the barrier and gave the Vietnamese people...

I have written a previous article about Turkey and its switching affiliation between the AFC and the UEFA , given its geographical proximity. Yes, there are a lot of questions, but I guess when you wonder, the current campaign for Qatar 2022 may have provided insight. In particular, Vietnam suffered the most in this stage. You know, Turkey and Vietnam are not similar to each other. One is already recognised as a middle-sized power in European football, while one is just beginning to breathe the sky of the last round. The qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup between them is also different: Turkey belongs to the European front, while my country is Asian. Yet after seeing how the run in Asia worked after just two matchdays, one may conclude why the Turks have little optimism to join the AFC. Best seen with the situation of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying in Asia were Vietnam's games against Saudi Arabia and Australia at home already. The first match against Saudi Arabia saw th...

The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification in Asia has just gone over two first matchdays, but there had been so many things left behind. The run is still long, but there has already been the smell of a really competitive qualification. I may have the chance to recollect memories of the qualifiers as long as I could, for the best. China, UAE and Iraq in total crisis The three major teams in this third phase are China, the UAE and Iraq. Yet after the two first matchdays, anything left behind them is nothing but a complete dismal performance. The UAE has to be the most to get criticism. The Emiratis were drawn against the likes of Lebanon and Syria on their two first fixtures, no better opportunity to collect six out of six. Yet the UAE responded poorly with two straight draws to Lebanon 0-0 and Syria 1-1. Worse, the UAE has failed to produce a decent performance in style, struggling to find the net with Ali Mabkhout, the country's most talented striker currently, being the only differenc...

Third-place. Third in a FIFA World Cup. You can imagine this in Turkey after the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in South Korea and Japan. And more of irony: this is Turkey's just only second appearance. Most of the Muslim-dominated countries do have national teams that qualified for more than a World Cup, but only two appearances is a surprise. Yet Turkey achieved the unthinkable that still, no Muslim majority countries could: finishing in the last four. Ever since the Turks opted to join the European football family, the question has always lingered among the Turkish population that, should they have switched to the Asian football home instead, or stay in Europe for better football development. Many people question the same, why Turkey has little success in qualifying for more than two World Cups in spite of mad supporters? Turkey is a country with a rich history. It was conquered by the Byzantine and the Persians for various eras, then the Arab expansion before the Turks settled in Ana...