⚽️ HT Kick Off: This time for Asia
In this issue, Dhiman says a Champions League winner's medal for an Asian player is another example of the continent's growing profile in the sport
Mehdi Taremi sticks out his right leg and finds Davide Fratessi who bends one past Wojciech Szczęsny. A small step for the Iranian, a giant leap for Inter? Because it is the goal that helped the team from Milan enter the Champions League final, their second in three seasons. With Paris St-Germain taming Arsenal in the other semi-final, it means that in Munich on Saturday there will be a Champions League winner, from Asia.
Like Taremi, attacking midfielder Lee Kang-in has struggled for minutes at PSG but who knows, the South Korean may well turn out for be the hero in the club’s search for the holy grail. Lee, 24, has six goals and six assists in a season he has mostly been used from the bench. In 462 minute of Champions League action, Lee has no goal or assist.
In Park’s footsteps
Taremi’s numbers are better in Europe as Simone Inzaghi has used the Iranian centre-forward as impact sub. Apart from the assist in the second-leg of the semi-final, Taremi, 32, has three more in this season’s Champions League and has scored one goal, against Red Star in the group stage.
An Asian winning the UEFA Champions League has happened only once before when Park Ji-sung featured in the Manchester United squad that beat Chelsea in the 2007-08 final. A final, Park did not play. The decision to not play the hard-working South Korean midfielder was one Alex Ferguson has said he regretted. Park played in the 2009 and 2011 final both of which ended in defeats to Barcelona.
It takes a lot of adjustment, not the least of which is breaking the language barrier, when a player from Asia shifts to Europe. Over the years though the profile of the Asian footballer has risen, the numbers growing rapidly following Indonesia’s naturalisation policy. At €50m, as per Transfermarkt, Real Sociedad’s Takefusa Kubo is the most expensive Asian player in the Big Five. Last season, two Asian players, Lee and Kim Min-jae, were among the losing semi-finalists in the Champions League.
Even off the pitch, with ownership of top clubs fetching seats at European football’s high table, Asia’s influence has been growing steadily. The Saudi Arabia Pro League then did what China had some years back: lure Europeans to Asia. Who would have thought Aymeric Laporte and N’Golo Kante would play in a European Championship semi-final while representing clubs in Asia.
Ali Daei, Takashi Usami and Takumi Minamino have been unused subs in Champions League finals, all of them playing for teams that had lost. Daei was a Bayern Munich forward in the “football-bloody-hell” final in Barcelona. Also with Bayern, Usami was part of the campaign in 2011-12 when they lost to Chelsea. Minamino was with Liverpool when Real beat them.
Son ends duck
None of them will be Asia’s most famous footballer to have lost a Champions League final. That distinction, if we can call it that, belongs to Son Heung-min. Son, 32, played every minute of the 2018-19 final won 2-0 by Liverpool. In 10 years, Son scored 173 goals and played 451 matches for Tottenham Hotspur but it was not till his 452nd, also the Europa League final, that he could break his and the club’s trophy duck.
“We've been talking about this for years. The biggest reason I stayed at Tottenham was because I wanted to do something others couldn't achieve,” Son had said before the final.
A season that had Asian players feature in three of Big Five league winning teams, and the Europa League winners, will end with one from the continent having his hands on the Champions League after 17 years.
Play of the week
In other news
Bhat in squad: Suhail Ahmad Bhat, the 20-year-old centre-forward, has become the latest footballer from Jammu and Kashmir to earn an India call-up as head coach Manolo Marquez announced a 28-member squad for an international friendly against Thailand on June 4, reports PTI. The fixture in Thailand is part of India's preparations for the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 qualifiers final round, where they will face Hong Kong on June 10 in Kowloon City. Check the squad here.
Chelsea complete set: The UEFA Conference League was not where Chelsea wanted to be, but their triumph in Wroclaw could prove to be a turning point for a club that had lost their trophy-winning habit, reports AFP. The former Premier League champions beat Real Betis 4-1 on Wednesday, recovering strongly from being outplayed in the first half by their Spanish opponents. Having won the Cup Winners’ Cup, Europa League and Champions League, this victory completed Chelsea’s set of UEFA titles.
Ten Hag replaces Alonso: Bayer Leverkusen have appointed former Manchester United coach Erik ten Hag as replacement for Xabi Alonso who has moved to Real Madrid, reports AP. The Bundesliga club said on Monday that the 55-year-old Ten Hag had signed a contract through 2027. It's Ten Hag's first job since he was dismissed as United coach in October 2024.
Durand Cup dates: Next season’s Durand Cup will be held between July 22-August 23, 2025, the organisers have announced. Asia’s oldest tournament will have matches in Imphal, Kokrajhar, Jamshedpur, Shillong and Kolkata. Including all ISL clubs, the competition will have 24 clubs taking part.
Title for Delhi: Delhi erased a two-goal deficit to beat Mizoram 4-2 in extra time and defend the men's U-20 National Football Championship title, reports PTI. Super-sub Laishram Rahul Meitei (90+1st, 108th) emerged hero in an ill-tempered final match where Mizoram ended the match with eight players and Delhi nine. Arya Kashyap (48th) and Prashan Jajo (110th) also scored for Delhi. Mesak C Lalrinngheta (39th) and PC Pazawna (45+2nd) had given Mizoram a 2-0 lead at the half-time.
Yamal at Barca till 2031: Lamine Yamal has signed a contract extension at Barcelona until 2031, the club announced, reports AP. The 17-year-old Yamal helped the Catalan club clinch a domestic treble — La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup — with his goals, dribbling and playmaking. Yamal’s big season — he scored 18 goals overall and led La Liga with 13 assists — came after he helped Spain win the European Championship last summer. “In 2031, Lamine Yamal is only gonna be 23,” the club said in a post on X as a reminder of how young their global star is. Yamal joined Barcelona's famous La Masia academy at age 7.
Neymar Jr left out: Carlo Ancelotti's first day as Brazil coach included saying “No” to Neymar and a promise to find more improvement from his former Real Madrid striker Vinícius Júnior, says AP. Ancelotti was introduced on Monday at a packed press conference in a Rio de Janeiro hotel, and just to ensure he was under no illusions as to his primary task, he was welcomed by Brazil's last two World Cup-winning coaches, 1994's Carlos Alberto Parreira and 2002's Luiz Felipe Scolari. Neymar returned to Santos only last week from a muscular injury, and that was too late for the new coach.
Iconic moment
Titles for Mac Allister brothers
Argentina's Mac Allister brothers Alexis, 26, and Kevin, 27, pulled off an unusual family feat on Sunday by lifting championship trophies in different countries, reports Reuters. Alexis got his hands on the Premier League trophy at Anfield after Liverpool secured the title last month, while his older brother Kevin endured a nervy afternoon in Belgium as his club Union Saint-Gilloise ended a 90-year wait for the championship. A third brother, 29-year-old Francis, plays in Argentina’s top flight. All three brothers started at Argentinos Juniors, appearing together for the first time in 2017. Their father Carlos won three caps for Argentina and played at Boca Juniors, where he won a league championship in 1992.
Also read
Look back in wonder: De Bruyne and Modric at City and Real
Why coaching a national team is vastly different from managing a club
They said it
That’s all for this week. As always, I look forward to your feedback. You can either write to me at dhiman@htlive.com, or reply to this mail.