## No magic of Houdini, just the grammar of soccer
Highlights of the article in Uttarbanga Sambad (News of North Bengal) dated 27-Nov-2022 and authored by Jaydeep Basu
Root causes behind encouraging performances of Asian countries in the recent group qualifying matches of World Cup soccer 2022.
- Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arab and Japan have been playing in the FIFA World Cup since 1978, 1986, 1994 and 1998 respectively.
- The above have been achieved not by some magic but through hard work while following the grammar of football.
- These Asian countries have excellent local soccer league frameworks which are as good as those in European countries.
- As early as 2006, Japan had set a soft target of winning FIFA World Cup by 2050.
- Many footballers from Japan and Korea are playing in European Leagues. So there is no lack of confidence when playing against European countries.
- UEFA Nations League is keeping European countries busy among themselves and hence not prioritizing to play with non-European countries. Thus European coaches are not getting a reasonable estimate about how much African, Asian and Latin American countries have progressed and ending up getting surprised.
- Though the recent wins in FIFA World Cup does not guarantee that Asian counties will dominate international arena, it has been established that they have made significant progress.
- With just a few wins, many of us, in India, may start thinking that Asian countries will soon emerge as world champions. We, Indians, may not be able to fathom that stupendous hard work still awaits for these countries to reach the top.
- Soccer fans of India cannot be blamed for a consistent short sighted approach. Prior to every FIFA World Cup, we have been fed by the false claims of our football administrators that India is just eight to twelve years away from participating in the FIFA World Cup.
