Kashima Antlers Give Madrid A Real Fright
Paul Williams
Alas there wasn't room left in 2016 for one final sporting fairy tale.
Kashima Antlers' progression to the final of this year's FIFA Club World Cup, the first time an Asian club side has made it to the final, was historic enough; a win over one of the world's very best teams would've been the stuff of dreams.
When Gaku Shibasaki's thunderous left footed strike beat Real Madrid's Keylor Navas early in the second half that dream looked very much like it could become a reality.
And Kashima had their chances. While Real Madrid was a class above in their general play, Kashima were far from outclassed and showed they were capable of playing equally fluent football.
It was the Ibaraki outfit that had the better of the chances as the match neared its conclusion and had Yasushi Endo showed more composure with his shot right at the death, we would be celebrating one of the biggest upsets in world football.
But while Kashima may have lost the match - a Cristiano Ronaldo hat trick, surely one of the most underwhelming of his career, ensured the trophy headed back to Madrid for the second time in three years - they won an army of admirers the world over and won back some much needed respect for Asian football.
There's not been many positive headlines around the world as far as Asia goes since the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where Japan and South Korea, who were both expected to progress well beyond the group stages, flopped badly on the world stage. The backlash against Asian football was immediate, with some taking great joy in putting Asian football, which had long been talked about as the future of the sport, back in its box.
Throw in the fallout from the Qatar 2022 decision and Asian football had a serious credibility problem that nothing short of success on the international stage was going to fix it.
Certainly in the last 12 months the only mention of Asian football in the global press has been about the rise of China, with most taking a dismissive and condescending approach to their reporting of China's ambitious plan for football relevancy.
The schadenfreude whenever the Chinese national team plays and loses, as it did this year against Syria, says much about how people see "their" football - Europe is the centre and it must stay that way. Intruders are not welcome.
Russia 2018 still looms as the next big litmus test for Asian football, to see how much, if any, progression has been made over the last four years.
But there are small milestones to be had along the way and Kashima's performance over the last two weeks is one of those and has gone some small way to winning back some credibility.
There is quality in Asia. It may not be as evenly spread as Europe or South America, but quality does exist. It's a matter of producing when it matters most.
So kudos to Kashima. Here's hoping the next time an Asian team steps out on the world stage, which will be Australia at the FIFA Confederations Cup in six months time, they too perform to the level Kashima has the last two weeks.
Copyright © Paul Williams and Soccerphile.com
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