It's not that asians are not good at football, but they don't have the support, and in many cases do not have the genes to be a footballer. Here's what I found from the many asian players I have played football with:
Don't have the support: Whilst most parents encourage their kids to do what career they want to do, asian parents tend to want to play it safe. They don't see any asian footballer and therefore discourage their kids from going down that path. They also realise that one injury could end your career and are afraid of this. Asian people tend to stick to what they know and play it absolutely safe, using connections to work up industries such as finance. My friend once had trials at Aston Villa and Spurs but his parents were not willing to sign for him to go. He is now... an accountant.
Don't have the genes: In general, most asians are MUCH less athletic (naturally) than white and black people. Even if they go to the gym and get bigger, they are still usually below 6ft and that can cause a problem. I played in the park with James Tomkins (of West Ham) and he was nowhere near the best player on the pitch. There were far better players than him, players that are faster, more skilful, more aggressive etc. Problem was, all these players were 5ft8 asians and Tomkins was the one that ended up in the EPL. Of course, there are smaller players (Messi, Robinho, Bojan, Scholesy etc) but I guess you have to be VERY good at certain things (Messi with dribbling for example) to stand out. Of course, with players from Japan, Korea etc and playstyles of teams like Barca, things are starting to change a little now but the height things does leave most asians at a disadvantage.
Of course, this doesn't happen to all asians but it's pretty much what happened to most asian guys I know that were really good at footy but ended up doing other work.
Don't have the support: Whilst most parents encourage their kids to do what career they want to do, asian parents tend to want to play it safe. They don't see any asian footballer and therefore discourage their kids from going down that path. They also realise that one injury could end your career and are afraid of this. Asian people tend to stick to what they know and play it absolutely safe, using connections to work up industries such as finance. My friend once had trials at Aston Villa and Spurs but his parents were not willing to sign for him to go. He is now... an accountant.
Don't have the genes: In general, most asians are MUCH less athletic (naturally) than white and black people. Even if they go to the gym and get bigger, they are still usually below 6ft and that can cause a problem. I played in the park with James Tomkins (of West Ham) and he was nowhere near the best player on the pitch. There were far better players than him, players that are faster, more skilful, more aggressive etc. Problem was, all these players were 5ft8 asians and Tomkins was the one that ended up in the EPL. Of course, there are smaller players (Messi, Robinho, Bojan, Scholesy etc) but I guess you have to be VERY good at certain things (Messi with dribbling for example) to stand out. Of course, with players from Japan, Korea etc and playstyles of teams like Barca, things are starting to change a little now but the height things does leave most asians at a disadvantage.
Of course, this doesn't happen to all asians but it's pretty much what happened to most asian guys I know that were really good at footy but ended up doing other work.
