Africa Cup Of Nations And Asian Cup Of Proof Of Football On The Continent Apart From Europe Increasingly Modern

The Indonesian national team lost to Iraq in the inaugural match of Group D of the 2023 Asian Cup (doc. PSSI).

JAKARTA - Both from the quality of the game on the green field and from the way tournaments are presented to the public, the 2023 Asian Cup and the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations have revealed a new phenomenon that football on both continents is increasingly advanced and modern.

This year, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the two continental-level soccer tournaments were held at the same time, not only the same year, but also in the same month.

It is rare for a moment like this to happen, especially this year it shows another dimension that Asia and Africa have begun to successfully overcome the gap in quality and professionalism from Europe and South America.

Uniquely, this edition of the European and South American level tournament took place in the same year.

After the 2023 Asian Cup and 2023 Africa Cup of Nations ended this weekend, Europe will follow the 2024 European Cup in Germany, from June 20 to July 14.

Euro 2024 was held in the same month South America held the Copa America from June 20 to July 14, which for the second time after 2016 was held outside South America, to be precise the United States.

Of the four football tournaments, Europe is a benchmark for other regions, in almost all standards. That already includes the size of the quality of competition and how competitions can be enjoyed by the public, especially football fans who reach billions of people around the world.

Based on Antara's report, if you look at the 2023 Asian Cup and 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, European standards appear to have been approached by Asia and Africa.

One of these standards was achieved thanks to the work of Asian and African players who played in Europe.

They directly and indirectly sharpen the quality of the football game on both continents.

European styles and approaches can be seen, during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2023 Asian Cup.

If the knockout round becomes a measure of the quality of football, then the 16 teams of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2023 Asian Cup that enter this round are arguably moving closer to European professionalism standards. including Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, whose squad is completely inhabited by players who play in local clubs.

Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Iran, are the teams that call their foreigncriminals the most for the 2023 Asian Cup.

The four teams managed to reach the quarter-finals, but only Iran and South Korea made their way to the semifinals.

Unfortunately, they failed to enter the final round. Qatar, whose entire players played in the domestic league, actually qualified for this top party.

They face Jordan who mostly play domestically but have the most prominent players playing in Europe, midfielder Musa Al-Taamari who plays with Montpellier in the French league.

Even though it is a domestic product, Qatar is inseparable from the poles of global football, especially Europe, thanks to the presence of a number of former European players there, including those who are indeed European citizens.

At top clubs Qatar played high-caliber players, such as Marco Verratti, Phillippe Couthinho, Julian totaler, and Rafinha.

Other world-class players play in clubs much richer in the Saudi Arabian league, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Riyad Mahrez, Sadio Mane, Karim Benzema, and many more.

Likewise, the United Arab Emirates clubs are also familiar with European players or alumni of European leagues.

Therefore, although almost all Qatari players competing in the 2023 Asian Cup come from domestic clubs, their players including striker Akram Afif are familiar with Europe's competitive climate thanks to the presence of ex-European players in their country.

This development has improved the quality of Asian football games and competitions, which were reflected during the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar.

Stronger evidence of European influence seen in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Kentara In Africa

The presence of players playing in Europe has made African Cup of Nations competition even fierce from time to time. On this continent, this phenomenon has even created new countries that have emerged as regional football forces.

The most evident evidence of European standards and influence was seen in the two teams that reached the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations finals at Ivory Coast, namely Ivory Coast itself and Nigeria.

All the players involved in Ivory Coast in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations come from players playing abroad, most of whom are from European clubs. Likewise Nigeria, which only includes one local club player.

In the Ivory Coast squad, there are big names that are widely known in Europe, such as Borussia Dortmund striker Sebastian Haller and Brighton & Hove Albion striker Simon Adingra.

Nigeria itself has players such as Fulham midfielder Alex Iwobi, superstar Victor Osimhen who strengthened Napoli and winger Atalanta Ademola Lookman.

The presence of these players has polished the aura of the competition to be like competitions in Europe's top leagues and even the World Cup.

This trend also occurs in Asia, although Japan and South Korea, which are reinforced by large European troops, failed to reach the top party.

Watch is getting more and more interesting

On average, the Asian Cup and African Cup squads are filled with European champions, including Indonesia, which is reinforced by a number of players from European clubs and other regions including defender Asnawi Mangkualam who is now playing in Thailand.

However, it's not just about the content of European players, the attractiveness of the Asian Cup and Africa Cup of Nations this time can also be seen from how each match is presented to the public. Starting from the angle of shooting which is very interesting and standardized in appearances like the World Cup so that football matches are even more delicious to watch, to the involvement of commentators who do not just repeat what football audiences see.

Football comments who are often accompanied by former football stars also provide other information about players, teams, coaches, statistics, and critically analyzes the techniques and patterns of play or what happens on the field, thus enriching the insight of football audiences and making the spectacle more nuanced.

No wonder watching the 2023 Asian Cup, as well as the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, is like seeing World Cup matches, or Europe's top leagues, or the Champions League.

"The Asian vibes (aura) World Cup", wrote a netizen commenting on the video footage of Indonesia's match against Iraq in the 2023 Asian Cup group phase reported by foreign commentators, which was shared on the TikTok platform, some time ago.

From that many dimensions, football on both continents becomes more delicious to follow. There was also a message of football's progress reached by the two continents.

It would not be too much if the world football body, FIFA, increased the share of the African and Asian teams for the World Cup finals from 2026 in the United States, Canada and Mexico, to eight teams, plus one team that qualified through the intercontinental playoffs.

However, this review is not to give the impression that world football is too oriented towards Europe, but rather to try to see to what extent Asian and African football is developing better and more professionally.