Having the opportunity to expose Asian football to the world is really important — Neill

AMMAN – Having the opportunity to expose Asian football to the world through international and important tournaments is really important because it can show the skill and passion the continent has for the game, a former Australian footballer told The Jordan Times. 

Lucas Neill, one of the 2015 Soccerex Asian Forum participants, said having the opportunity to expose Asia to the world through football is very exciting. 

“Bringing the world to our region is a great honour, but with that comes responsibility, a responsibility to justify all the positives countries in this region have to offer and use the exposure to demonstrate football is a game for everyone, everywhere and this part of the world shares the same enthusiasm for the game like any other,” he told The Jordan Times.

Neill is a former Australian professional footballer who spent almost 15 years of his career playing in England. He represented Australia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, and also the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar. 

 He described Jordan’s hosting of the forum for the second time in Asia as “vital”.

“It is vital for the progression of the game in Asia to have this important event so leaders of industry and the Asian football community come together and feed off each other to drive the game in this continent,” he added. 

The former Australian player said the passion for the game is immense and events like Soccerex help channel that energy into a positive future for Asian football.

“It is therefore fitting that the forum is being held in Jordan, backyard of one of Asian football’s great leaders, HRH Prince Ali, who is a true reflection of the passion that exists in this continent for our great game,” he added. 

He said having leaders and captains of industry in one room gives the football community the chance to improve and learn from the best in the business. 

“The rest of the world is always looking to improve and Asia must also keep improving. Asia is the biggest continent in the world, to compete is not enough, we must become a leader of the game and by sharing knowledge and helping each other in regular events such as this is a great way to help achieve our goals,” he added. 

He noted that having renowned foreign players playing in Asia is not the only solution to make the game in Asia more popular and attractive to the whole world. 

“Choosing strong foreign players who bring a high level of experience, technical ability and professionalism doesn’t always work. It is important that the local players learn something from the foreign players,” he added. 

Neill said what is more important for the football associations in Asia is to focus time and money on “organic development”.

“Improving local coaches, grass-roots programmes will have a far greater impact for the future success of a league. Increasing the amount of children playing the game deepens the talent pool and by improving the level of coaching to help that talent, this naturally improves the level of performance in the domestic league which in turn benefits the national team,” he added. 

Neill said a high performing domestic league is what attracts foreigners to play there and in turn that gives fans a competitive league to be proud of.