Even if you’re not a soccer fan, you may know that the United States plays Bosnia and Herzegovina tomorrow in the “knockout round” of the World Cup. But unless you're following the tournament closely, you may not realize one part of the world is down to a single representative.
The World Cup opened this month with a broad representation from the Asia Pacific. Nearly 20% of the 48 teams playing in North America came from the Asian Football Confederation.
A record nine Asian teams competed in the group round, playing a total of 27 games. They won only three of them.
Japan and Australia reached the knockout round of 32. And now, only Australia remains. It's been a different story for other regions — like Africa, which had 10 teams start in the group round.
Nine of them made it to the knockout round. That contrast was flagged by Singapore's Straits Times, which headlined a story, “Asia's World Cup falls apart.”
There is disappointment across the region, and in some places, there is anger. South Korea's president got so upset about his team's early exit that he's called for a government investigation into the matter.
The Korean head coach resigned on Sunday, while one Seoul-based news outlet headlined a Tuesday story looking at what it called the team's “descent into disgrace.”
All is not lost. Australia plays Egypt on Friday, going in as the underdog.
