Asian football mentally lacking, says AFC chief

Asian football mentally lacking, says AFC chief

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Asian coaches must improve their players'
mental agility if the region is to compete in world football, the
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said Monday.

Commenting on the disappointing performance of Asian teams in
the recent world youth football championship here, AFC secretary
Peter Velappan said Asian teams lacked tactical awareness and
mental commitment.

"It is pointless working hard on the field but not creating
the opportunities to score," he said.

"The lack of mental tenacity is the result of players not
properly prepared for the highly competitive environment of the
World Youth Cup," Velappan said.

Velappan said coaches needed to reflect seriously on how to
develop the younger generation of Asian footballers.

"The Asian coach has to be keenly aware of the progress taking
place around him and in other continents. He needs to be
tactically innovative," he said.

Velappan said the AFC had asked China, South Korea, the United
Arab Emirates and Malaysia to conduct a post-mortem on their
disappointing performance in the tournament.

"We want to know what went wrong," he said.

"With the exception of Japan who made the quarterfinals and
lost to Ghana on a golden goal, none of the other countries in
contention came close to displaying standards which had been
expected of them," he said.

Japan lost 2-1 to Ghana in the quarterfinals. The UAE made it
to the second round while China, South Korea and host Malaysia
crashed out in the preliminary matches.

Velappan said it was sad that Asia had failed to do well
despite all the time and effort put in by its five teams to
prepare for the event.

It was great to organize major tournaments in Asia but the
feat must be matched by equally good performances from teams
representing the continent, he said.

"We need winners to show the world that Asian football is
indeed progressing and the under-20 tournament is just the place
for such an effort. "