He is about to leave (one day to go) there Asian Football Cup, an increasingly popular sport on the populous continent. The players are Asian, but among the coaches hardly anyone is from Asia: the Europeans and Latin Americans rule, and the teams compete for them. Here are five of the managers of Asian teams who have brought past glory to football competitions.
Guus Hiddink, the Dutchman who took South Korea to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup (beating Italy and Spain along the way).
Anghel Iordanescu, the Romanian veteran who has a one-two punch to his credit: he won the AFC champions cup twice, first with Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal in 2000 and then with Al Ittihad in 2005.
Carlos Alberto Parreira, the Brazilian who led three Asian countries – Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia – to the World Cup and also won the Asian Cup twice, with Kuwait in 1980 and with Saudi Arabia in 1988.
Philippe Troussier, the Frenchman who won Japan the 2000 Asian Cup and led the Japanese to the 2002 World Cup.
Finally, Marcello Lippi, who won the 2013 Asian Champions Cup with Ghangzhou Evergrande and led the same team to fourth place in the Club World Cup.
Attachments: The National
