Editorial: Potential Football Hot Beds

I apologize to those avid readers of Green Lizard, "your football haven," I have been holding off the editorials mainly because I am a firm believer in research. Every story done on the blog is researched the hell out of some need more detailed research than most but like a Valykrie on the battlefield we are ever vigil in the quality that is presented. For the confuse or newcomers the editorial dubbed Potential Football Hotbeds takes a look at the parts of the world that the beautiful game has forgotten or turn its back to. We look to ask why and what can be done to bring the gospel to the lost but we also ask are we to late. I once again urge you to cast your eyes on prior scripture for the definition of what we call a footballing hot bed if not all will and shall be revealed in this article.

Men From The Land Of Zen

Minor Steps

The metropolis which is Asia, full of wonders from the orient. When we think of Asia lets not kid ourselves football is not the first thing that comes to mine we often think of deep philosophical meanings and teachings, Buddhism, Islam,Hinduism and Shintoism. The martial arts, fairly verticaly challenged peoples and on a more feudal and ignorant level Chinese food and that is just the east. On the westside which would be the Middle East which is a bit ironic, camels, sand, perfumes, kebabs and gentlemen called Kamal come to mine. To the south where the Dravidians reside, google that or wikipedia what ever is your search engine fetish. We think of curry, rice and highly industialized child labour, shame on me for that. South East Asia elephants and Sagat from Street Fighter well I do. What of Central Asia to be honest I have never actually given thought to the region not only in football because believe it or not football is not the center of the universe but on any level. Before I did this article I being a huge geography Egghead am shamed to admit that I did not know the region or the countries that are considered themselves as central Asian. Research was need to satisfied not only my footballing curiosity but as well as my inner Mr. Atlas. I needed to know where the hell these countries came from and what is their culture and geography more than anything else.I needed to know who are considered central Asians, according to FIFA ( the world footballing body) and its surbordinate AFC (Asian Football Confederation). They were as followed Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and to my extreme surprise and relief Iran. I always reconmend a google usually to be crafty but this time it is definitely needed, praise be to the highest that this is a blog and not an audio or video channel because I have basically butchered the pronouncation of all but Iran and Uzbekistan.Can we talk about the football now?,a very strong NO. Like the people who raised me studies before games and so we shall do. The biggest surprise to me is Iran, I thought it was a Middle Eastern state but my intel says different, Iran is very publicized nation so no need for great detail, at least I know the capital. Geographicaly the region is referred to as steppe country a steppe being vast areas of flat treeless land an image you guys can compare this to is your lawn after you cut the grass picture that going for miles.The region is also mountainous and has surprisingly deserts so plain it is not. A good reason why these countires are not well known to the average westerner is that they were apart from Iran under the rule of the Soviet Union. With its collapse most of her states like the ones listed struggle to carve out unique identities. The peoples of this region are not the stereotypical asians we are familiar with they are to be hard to define and they more ressemble europeans but a bit darker from what I can see.

Now that we know a little more about the central Asians we can talk about the footy. Lets take a look at their FIFA rankings where they sit in the footballing fraternity. Kyrgyzstan 162nd, Tajikistan 148th, Turkmenistan 154th, Uzbekistan impressive 78th and Iran a very proud 52nd. The last two nations I recognize on the international scene, I know the Uzbeks and the Iranians or nobody's bitch they can go I have seen them in action but to the trio I have only ever seen them once between the three of them and that was Turkmenistan at youth level. The trio's rankings don't suggest alot of glory to be had. There is clearly a problem with their football my educated guesses would be either they don't care for the game or the fundamentals are not in place for the sport to thrive. I would go for a bit of both. Anyway you look at it the reading for the triplet they don't look capable of beating under 21 sides from top 50 ranked nations yet alone the nations around them. On a brighter note Uzbekistan is a very capable unit their ranking is great credit to them. The Uzbeks want to love football, how do I know this, because a couple of seasons ago they invested in their league and even signed Brazilian ace Rivaldo and had the nerve to bid for FC Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o offering millions to lure him away. That to me shows willingness to learn and a passion that is inside.No players on the big stage to mention for the "White Wolves ," of Uzbekistan but all being equal they seem to have a really decent league ambitious to say the least and their national side is worthy of praise. To Tehran and what can be said about the Iranians. They are impressive they have a stable league to parade to the world, that is not all they can boost their foreign exchange in players is very long the likes of Mehdi Mahdavikia who plays for Eintracht Frankfurt in Germay as well as Vahid Hashemian who plays for VFL Bochum. At Osasuna in Spain Javad Nekounam and Masoud Shojaei ply their trade and at Fulham FC of England Andranik Teymourian is a crowd favourite at Craven Cottage. The Persians have seen two World cups and are multiple Asain cup winners, in my opinion Iran are what the other nations in this far flung part of the world should aspire to be. My verdict they are in good stead and I hope they keep their progression going.

Trying to be a wordsmith I entitled this piece Minor Steps due to the fact for the geographical location of the nations that tend to sit on the steppes of Asia but I think it is appropiate because small steps are needed to get this region galvanize. The glory days for the region are tied to the USSR's past, back then they were somebodies Iran being the exception of course. In those days they had status but now they are distant islands with no roads to the outside world. The culture is Russian based their ties that can not be broken. What is needed for the game to grow a strong injection in cash a willingness of the people and an unique sense of pride on the former Soviet states. These people of these lands are horse back riders not footballers, may be polo can have a better chance out there but seeing how that is the rich man's game I see little strides made either way.

Reptile