Scout Report – Asian Cup 2011

Just Football’s resident scout Tom Shaw has been busy. Here’s his scout report from the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar:

International tournaments provide a great opportunity for scouts to watch the top players from a variety of countries in a high-class, competitive environment. The scheduling of such tournaments allow for  lots of matches to be watched in a short space of time, potentially observing many different teams and players.

For major tournaments such as the World Cup the vast majority of the players are already well known and there is little potential for finding a hidden gem. One region that is still a relatively untapped market for European clubs is that of Asia.

There are very few Asian footballers who have succeeded in European football. In the past the arrival of an Asian player would have led to accusations of the player being bought for marketing purposes rather than for his footballing ability. The signing of Junichi Inamoto for Arsenal in 2001 being a particular case in point.

The success of Park Ji-Sung with Man Utd and formerly PSV has helped increase the respectability of future Asian players signing for European clubs. The more recent success of players such as Lee Chung-Yong at Bolton and Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa in Russia and Germany respectively has meant that clubs are increasingly looking to Asia for new players.

The Asian Cup recently played in Qatar brought together countries with recent World Cup experience (Australia, Japan, South Korea and North Korea), established Asian superpowers (Iran and Saudi Arabia), new money nations (UAE, Bahrain and Qatar) and countries with huge populations but little footballing culture (China and India), plus a host of other minnows on the world stage.

Rather disappointingly the smaller nations failed to make much of an impact and it was the three pre-tournament favourites who impressed the most, Australia, Japan and South Korea. The gulf in class between these three nations and the rest was best highlighted in the semi-final’s where Australia thrashed Uzbekistan 6-0 and in the other match Japan and South Korea played out the best game of the tournament in a 2-2 draw which Japan won on penalties.

I have picked six players from these three nations – all of whom play in Asia – who could find themselves in a European league in the near future:

Jung  Sung-Ryong

Goalkeeper – South Korea – Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma

The outstanding goalkeeper of the tournament was also the outstanding goalkeeper in the Asian Champions League for Seongnam as his team lifted the trophy, beating Zob Ahan of Iran in the final, making several crucial saves in the match. For his country his excellent shot stopping and handling skills have made South Korea a difficult team to score against. He made a number of top class saves during the Asian Cup including saving a penalty from Keisuke Honda in the semi-final, but was unable to repeat the heroics in the shoot-out as South Korea were knocked out by their great rivals.

Jung Sung-Ryong signed for Suwon Bluewings at the end of January 2011.

Koo Ja-Cheol

Attacking Midfielder – South Korea –  Jeju United

This 21 year old was one of the undoubted stars of the 2010 K-League season. He provided the most assists (11 in 26 matches) and was named in the K-League XI. However, it was his goalscoring ability that stood out in this tournament. He finished the tournament as the top scorer with five goals and was a constant threat from his attacking midfield position. He also captained his country at the 2009 U20 World Cup and was the star of an exciting South Korean side at that tournament.

Koo Ja-Cheol signed for Wolfsburg at the end of the January transfer window.

Ji Dong-Won

Forward – South Korea – Chunnam Dragons

He was one of the youngest players at the Asian Cup at 19 years of age but the quality of his performances belied his lack of experience. He has experience of playing in England, having previously been part of the Reading youth setup before returning home to his native country in 2008. He is tall and strong but has remarkable pace and dribbling ability for someone of his size. He scored four goals in the tournament, two against India and two in the 3^rd place play-off win over Uzbekistan.

Shinji Okazaki

Forward – Japan – Shimizu S-Pulse

Many of Japan’s starting XI already play in Europe but Okazaki is one of the few still plying his trade in his home country. He typically plays as a forward and has an excellent goalscoring record for Japan (21 in 41 appearances) but was utilised in an attacking midfield trio alongside Kagawa and Honda. However, this change in position did not dampen his goalscoring ability too much as he scored three goals, all in a 5-0 win over Saudi Arabia. His first goal was particularly impressive as he lobbed the Saudi goalkeeper before nonchalantly heading the ball in from close range.

Shinji Okazaki signed for Stuttgart at the end of the January transfer window.

Matt McKay

Midfielder – Australia – Brisbane Roar

The Brisbane Roar captain has been in top form this season as the Roar are the undoubted class of the 2010 A-League season, having gone 23 matches unbeaten and playing some wonderful passing football. McKay’s form in domestic football saw him called up to the Asian Cup squad despite his inexperience at international level. His first start of the tournament was in the quarter final against Iraq and he provided the assist for the only goal of the game. He retained his starting place for the final two matches but despite his all-action performances he was unable to help Australia beat Japan in the final.

Sasa Ognenovski

Defender – Australia – Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma

The experienced centre back was a journeyman player in Australia for many years before eventually making a name for himself for Adelaide United in the Asian Champions League. It was these performances that saw him make a shock move to Seongnam in South Korea in 2009. From there on his profile has rocketed and he was named the Asian Champions League Player of the Year for 2010 as Seongnam won the tournament. He finally made his Socceroos debut just prior to the Asian Cup and has built a solid partnership with Lucas Neill. Ognenovski is exceptional in the air and is a goal threat from set pieces.

(photo via Qatar Soccer)

Asian Cup, Asian Football, Australia, Japan, Ji Dong-Won, Jung Sung-Ryong, Koo Ja-Cheol, Matt McKay, Sasa Ognenovski, Scout Report, Shinji Okazaki, South Korea