As we all know, Asia is the largest continent in the world, with an area of about 44.58 million square kilometers - about 30% of the earth's land area, and a population of about 4.2 billion - about 55% of the world's total population.

It is also well known that in modern times, Asia has been invaded and devastated by European and American powers (including Japan, which broke away from Asia and joined Europe), and now, except for Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, most countries and regions in Asia belong to developing countries (or regions), although the per capita GDP of the oil-rich countries in the Middle East is comparable to that of the rich countries of Western Europe, but these oil-rich countries are not considered developed countries.

In line with Asia's overall low level of development, Asia's weakness in world sports, especially in important team sports such as football, basketball and volleyball. Although China is already one of the best in the world in the Olympic gold medal table, due to the weakness of football, basketball and volleyball, especially in the men's events, China is generally not considered a sports power, but only a sports power.

Although Japan and South Korea have improved greatly in football, there is still a certain gap between Japan and South Korea and European and South American football, even compared with African football powerhouses. Australia, the most important country in Oceania, has been assigned to the Asian region in football and basketball, and Australia's strength in football is enough to compete with Japan and South Korea. As for North America, although North American football may not be as strong as Africa and Asia, the United States in North America is an out-and-out sports kingdom, and the overall strength of American sports is far from being comparable to Japan and South Korea.

So, in general, with the exception of Oceania, which has a small population, Asia is still weak in sports with a population of 4.2 billion. We can't compare Africa and South America with China's Olympic gold medal list, because we don't have the confidence to do so, and others won't convince us from the bottom of their hearts.

It is undeniable that football, basketball and volleyball (men's sports) are not good, no matter how good they are in other aspects, it is impossible for anyone to think that we are a sports power, others will only recognize us as a sports power, just like the UAE and Qatar, their per capita GDP has long been among the top 15 in the world, but who will admit that they are developed countries?

So, why are Asian football, basketball and volleyball so weak? (Australia, which is included in Asia, is not discussed here.)

Is it because of Asian ethnicity? Certainly not. But if this is not the case, then how can we explain that Japan, the third largest country in the world in terms of economic aggregate, and Turkey, the second most populous country in Europe after leaving Asia and joining Europe, are still on the same level of football strength as Poland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Paraguay and Colombia?

Let's talk about Japan, its population is as much as 126 million, its GDP value ranks third in the world, the world's top ten football powers - Baad, France, Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, none of them can compare with Japan in terms of economic strength, the seriousness of the Japanese people is known to the world, so why can't Japanese football squeeze into the top ten in the world? In other words, although Japan claims to become the top eight in world football in 2030 and win the World Cup in 2050, from the current point of view, many people are not optimistic about Japan's ambition (the author is optimistic to a certain extent), so why hasn't Japan's football strength followed up with Japan's strong economic strength?

In the previous chapter, the author has written that "football is completely equal for all countries and all nations in the world, but the development of football by a country or nation is affected by six factors: population size, comprehensive strength, national status, public interest, development strategy, and historical accumulation." ’

We can discuss the shortcomings of football development in Asian countries and regions from the above 'six factors': China's football is weak because of the improper 'football development strategy', and the 'historical accumulation of football' is negligible;

Southeast Asian football is weak because Southeast Asia's 'comprehensive strength' is too weak, especially the economic strength is too weak, and the 'national state' of most Southeast Asian countries is not good;

The reason why football in Central and Western Asia is weak is mainly in the 'state of the country', of course, the football strength in Central and Western Asia is generally not bad;

As for South Asia, except for the factor of 'population size', the other five factors are weak.

South Korea can now be called a 'small football powerhouse', South Korea's population is about 51 million, which is very in line with the author's set of the most perfect population for the development of football - 50 million, South Korea is also a relatively qualified country in Asia for the development of football;

Although North Korea's football strength has been affected to a certain extent due to the 'state of the country', in general, there are not many things that he can find fault with North Korean football.

Next, let's take a look at Japanese football, in terms of population, comprehensive strength, national status, public interest, and development strategy, there is no problem with Japanese football, so what is the problem with Japan's failure to squeeze into the world's top ten football powers?

The answer is 'the history of football'.

Readers may wonder - 'Isn't Japanese football good enough?' ’

In response to this doubt, the author wants to say that the 'historical accumulation of football' is not only the accumulation of a country itself, but also the 'historical accumulation of football' given to this country by other opponents on the same continent or in the same region.

What does this mean?

Let's compare Japan with European powerhouses such as Germany and England, and what kind of opponents did Japan, Germany and England face in Asia and Europe?

In the European zone, there is no weak team in European football, the Faroe Islands can beat Greece in the European Cup qualifiers, the Iceland team can eliminate the England team in the quarterfinals of the European Cup, England, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy have not entered the World Cup and the European Cup many times, which shows how fierce the competition in the European zone is.

In the history of European football, there are many matches between national teams and the quality is extremely high, although there are weak teams such as the Faroe Islands and Liechtenstein in the European zone, but in most cases, the national team competitions in the European zone are very intense and intense, not to mention the European Championship and other events that are more expensive than the World Cup.

Therefore, in the European zone, the German team, the England team and all the European national teams have been 'trained in blood and fire', the German team was swept 5:1 by England at their own door (Owen scored a hat game), and the England team has been winless for more than 20 years; In the 2008 European Championship qualifiers, England was defeated by Croatia in the group stage and ultimately failed to qualify for the finals; In the 2010 World Cup qualifiers in Europe, England defeated Croatia in the group stage, resulting in Croatia failing to qualify for the finals......

The competition between the national teams in the European zone is full of such a 'blood and fire contest' of 'you kill me once, I kill you once', and in such a 'blood and fire contest' again and again, every national team in Europe has created brilliance and has been created by others: 'You kill me once', you hurt me, I want to work hard to innovate and improve, and strive to kill you once in the future; I killed you once, I hurt you, I hurt when I look at it, I also want to prevent you from trying to innovate and improve, and then I must work harder to innovate and improve, so that you don't hurt me again in the future.

So, in this 'blood and fire contest' of 'you kill me once, I kill you once', all the national teams in the entire European zone have made progress, and it is a very huge progress. South American football is similar, although there are only 10 national teams in South America, but although the sparrow is small, all kinds of competitions in South America have also created conditions for the ten national teams in South America to 'you kill me once, I kill you once', and the ten national teams in South America have also made great progress.

Seeing this, the reader may say - this is true in Europe and South America, isn't it true in Asia?