Young Asian stars lighting up Champions League bittersweet for Aussie fans

Forget the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League that took place earlier this week (and much of Australia seems to have done just that), Asian talent has been on display on the biggest club stage of them all.

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This week Son Heung-min, Sardar Azmoun, Hwang Hee-chan and Takumi Minamino all scored UEFA Champions League goals against prestigious opposition in Bayern Munich, Lyon and especially Liverpool.

Waking up to such exploits is likely to be bittersweet for fans down under.

It is some time since Australians were gorging themselves on Europe’s top table. When the likes of Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka started banging in the goals in the Champions League some of the current crop of players were not even born.

These days Korea, Japan and others seem to be producing more and more players that are shining at the top level. Australia has lagged behind a little.

But there is a brighter side. This week’s exploits in Europe show that there is plenty of talent coming out of the continent and this has to be good for all in Asia. 

Son Heung-min gets most of the international headlines as he is an exciting attacker who plays for one of the biggest clubs in the world’s biggest league. But Son has yet to do what Hwang Hee-chan did.

In fact, it is hard to think of another player who has managed to do what the Red Bull Salzburg man did. He made Virgil Van Dijk, regarded by many as the best defender in the world look anything but.

Hwang’s dummy had the Dutchman heading off for a bag of chips from one of the many eateries around Anfield, and then the Korean turned to blast an unstoppable shot past Adrian.

That made it Liverpool 3, Salzburg 1. It was supposed to be little more than a warning for the European champions not to be too complacent 

Not long after however, Hwang turned provider, breaking free down the left to cross for Minamino to volley home smartly from the edge of the area.

The Japanese star then set-up the next for Salzburg to give Erling Braut Haland a chance that could not be missed. 

To come back from 3-0 down to 3-3 at the home of the European champions was a magnificent achievement, soured only a little by the eventual winner from Mo Salah.

Hwang impressed in the 6-2 thrashing of Genk in the first group games last month and is starting to make a name for himself.

Making van Dijk look foolish will do him no harm at all and it remains to be seen if he can bring this new found confidence back home to South Korea for the international break.

This week not only shows that there is plenty of talent in Asia, it also shows that moving to a so-called ‘smaller league’ in Europe is not always the wrong move.

In Korea and Japan, a player who heads to a country like Austria to play football barely gets a mention in the media these days.

If you get a call from a club in England or Spain however then the headlines are as deafening as the famous Anfield roar on European nights.

In Austria, Hwang and Minamino have had the chance to develop away from the pressure and spotlight that exists in bigger European countries. This spotlight reflects back all the way to East Asia too.

Teams like Salzburg offer something different.

They can be a fantastic stepping stone to bigger platforms if that is what players desire.

Hwang and Minamino have become important players in a good team. They have put their name in lights and a couple more performances like that and the offers will be flooding in. There are already rumours.

And Salzburg have shown that with planning, vision and patience a club in a smaller league can not just build an identity but can compete with the biggest clubs in a thrilling fashion.

Australian fans should be happy, overall, about the exploits of South Korean, Japanese and Iranian players this week.

It shows there is a lot of talent coming out of Asia and there are plenty of European options for that talent.