So forsaken eight stadiums to twenty four countries and fifty one matches for all of asia know all of the world this is an absolute about the asia cup thank you. Why should football fans care about the asian come even if they dont live in asia easy its a chance to get to know a totally different set of football culture has. Been only a matter of time before the coming next big fall in canada asia a continent full of football even where you dont expect it this is a country to the front in most parts of the world a probably never thought when it comes to the focus. Our report up only set off to check out the philippines ahead of the first day back and asian cup where he met stylist who is still a bit under the radar. For the face to face of what would say. And he. The future of the philippines two if you dont know the asian cup already youre about to make quite the discovery. Were really serious about making football the biggest sport possible welcome to part one of our asian cup series ready to start down young. So when you think of asia the first thing that comes to mind is probably not football but hang on a second football is the worlds game and the world really has a good billion people and asia has sixteen percent of that so is it safe to say that its only a matter of time before asia becomes the next big footballing continent. Ten years on. The road and that. You know why did you tell me here where. This is very this is an episode about the asia cup look around nobody would ever know the difference. Ok so when you think about it asia and football you think about japan and south korea you know traditional but how did the surface theres a Movement Building in countries like australia ok not a part of asia but part of the Asian Football Confederation syria iran and its actually pretty big asia has been putting a lot of resources and a lot of investment into growing sport in general across the continent the creation of organized sporting leagues has done wonders for sport in asia especially football and globalisation has also played a big part in fact the highest number of viewers for the premier league is in indonesia that means more people watch the prime really going indonesia than in the u. K. No huge example of this is also the recent investments that weve been seeing in the chinese superleague but its not just the chinese superleague because china has invested a ridiculous amount of money into football in general because they say that by two thousand and fifty they plan on winning the world cup now this starts from the very grassroots the chinese president who loves football by the way has said hes going to open at least fifty thousand new footballing schools thats ridiculous theyve brought in coaches from all over the world and theyre really serious about making football the biggest sport possible in china in india with the implementation of the i League Football has been steadily growing and fans and viewership and you know what their National Team has been ok slowly but theyve been climbing the fee for rankings things seem to be looking up for this continent now if youre a continent that has a lot of money and you want to get people to like football in your area what do you do. You buy the players that everybody likes to see play so before we were ready to see players at the end of their career heading over to asia. Places like china india dubai to play but now were starting to see younger players go there while theyre still in their prime to china. This. Evening. So peaceful. It would stop the leak. So for cities eight stadiums twenty four countries and fifty one matches for all of asia know all of the world to enjoy but how do we get here lets go back to the beginning so the a. F. C. Was founded in one thousand nine hundred fifty four and its been working since then to establish asia on the world footballing stage now the first asian cup was in one thousand nine hundred fifty six but it only had four teams and its been steadily growing to what it is or what it will be in two thousand and nineteen this edition is actually going to be the biggest one yet with twenty four teams and it will be hosted by the u. A. E. Who when we think about the u. A. E. And football we usually think about the Unlimited Money bank behind Manchester City ok so for those of you would like to visualize things man you made a six photo shop map here of the se and all the countries that are part of it. Thanks man u. Ok so all jokes aside the u. A. E. Is actually working pretty hard to grow football at home the last time they hosted this tournament was twenty two years ago and this time around because of the biggest asian cup to date they say invested a significant number of resources and money to make this tournament the best it possibly can be in the past attendance was a problem and this time around they really tried to make tickets as affordable as possible so that as many people as possible could go to see these games now we dont know this for sure but theyve reported that a number of Group Stage Games have actually been sold out which if its true is a really big step in the right direction so the decision to expand in two thousand nine hundred was actually a pretty good one if you think about it because with twenty four teams and fifty one games that means way way way more fans can be a part of this tournament actually in u. A. E. Alone the National Teams of over six Million People that live there are going to be playing and they also expect a lot of fans to be traveling through the east because theyre its the winter break so this tournament should have the biggest turnout yet and the winner of the two thousand and one nine hundred eighty will also get a place in the Confederations Cup in two thousand and twenty one which will also be hosted in asia we dont really know where yet so who are the favorites for this tournament lets start from the top iraq and is currently ranked number one in the a. F. C. Rankings now we saw some pretty good things for them in the world cup everybody thought. Ok so who are the favorites for this tournament currently irans is ranked number one in the if the rankings now they are impress this summer at the world cup when they were drawn into a group with portugal and spain and everyone got oh my god its going to be a blowout it actually wasnt a blowout. But theyve got a lot of going on in their federation so maybe if they can get that under control they were really good chance of winning this tournament now lets see who else currently sitting at the number two ranking spot is australia now australia is the reigning champion of the asian cup they also have a very good chance of winning but do we know if the world cup curse of past winners applies the asian cup as well hopefully not if so they saw time talk to yogi love and see what they can do to stop this because that might not be good for them now japan is number three and japan is looking to solidify their place as the most successful asian cup team ever theyll be trying to win their fifth asian cup title but you can never count on the host so you ease currently ranked number nine but after seeing what russia did this summer at the world cup we definitely cant count them out own the last time they hosted they were also runners up and their coach is already an asian cup winner with japan in two thousand and eleven zacky dhoni so u. A. E. Theyve got a pretty good shot as well i mean ariza in years what do you guys think you do you thinks going to win this year ok guys so thats enough for here if you want to see the full of log head of ready to kick off on you tube where you can catch me and a whole lot of other cool stuff thanks dan yeah. The philippines have qualified for their first ever asian cup you comes on the world footballing stage we find out the secret behind the rise of filipino football. You know that hes bored these are right youre there for years for road food for your survival maybe asto means that much of what challenges a person from you do you have to keep a voice over the fact when youve got something you need. To transform it back to Something Else better to you so you meet them thats what we try to do. This is a country that fans in most parts of the world have probably never thought so when it comes to football the philippines simply never been a big deal in the sport they never played at a world cup or even an asian cup but that is about to change and its time for the world to get to know the asco. The filipino scowls the street dogs are taking part in the asian cup for the first time in january so you know they ready for their biggest test. The two stars of filipino football are the young husband brothers of dubbo aggie last weekend james and for the National Team captain phil were born in england and raised at london club chelsea but they joined up with the ass kells thanks to the Research Skills of a keen gamer. He found out we had a filipino heritage five a day manager he contacted the philippine for federation back saying we know where. We were in the changer unless a cop come into the office of the philippines of code and said we would like you to represent the philippines. The team was one of the lowest ranked in the world in two thousand and six when they made their International Debuts also moving to the philippines they discovered it was a far cry from the premier league when i went on the field i found a brick i thought was a break thats how you train in your own stuff you get changed in the bleachers the stands and sometimes we were travelling on the cheap me just to get training. The cat to show you one camp two thousand going to cheat me and is a captain and us and then his foot went for a drain on. The lawn believe they. Always have to work you have to be toughened up. There wasnt any professional league in the philippines so players had all the time in the road to practice for that is how it was in two thousand and ten when they were. Done palami has long been a key figure in the National Team management hes even pumped his own money into the team to help bring things up to scratch. When he first got involved he had a huge task on his hands. There was really no Sustainable Program and we never even had friendlies during International Dates it took a while for us to incorporate that into our schedules there have been times in the past when. Philip its been a case of. Sure plenty of people know about the philippines picture perfect islands and paradise beaches but less is known about their sports teams sometimes even among the locals. To check on the state of filipino football life and in the flesh im going to a game in the newly created couple of paoli no al chapter. Lets get an idea of what its like filigree much travelling out from the outlook and watching the studies but thats our bag. But now were getting there is with a jeep which is basically the really old thing that led to buying American Military tricked out extended a kind of but. I actually had to take on the tri sickle but its all worth it for the love of the game and the chance to check in on National Team stars the younghusband brothers. As i make my way. To the stands it seems like i shouldnt expect a packed house but perhaps thats no surprise for a three pm weekday kickoff and the clubs are doing their best to attract new supporters. Basically more job is to ensure we have fans watching the game and also from all the Football Games what we normally go to schools and basically its about. Football. And basically how they will enjoy. The pitch the football culture in the country because normally they would just sit down and this. Socalled means fight and besides so basically he would. Soon be aware. Of. The margins with a full no win psyche loss to a paste in the Southern Region of mindanao. Only moved to close to manila in twenty six teams but theyre already building up a local following. You been a fan of the gold since. My school days. Decided to charge for you from from from the lord for your money in the weve got there are the guys that are falling. That are based here in the us and before that. Not everything is running smoothly here theres no electricity or Running Water at the stadium on this match day but the enthusiasm from the clubs and fans are becomes everything and teams are doing their bit for good causes tune. Out what modes are registered here so you. I believe this we can use football as a platform to transform children and raise their own sense formed their communities who stood the these are a special beneficiaries they are they were former history children some of them are actually moved from ethnic and from the try in the south you know or how theyre much affected by war. Battles between islam as groups in the army and eye glasses hung region of mindanao have left many children vulnerable because football for humanity is trying to help them with assistance from the clubs. Weve been able to get. To. Safe and that no i do thats very generously offering a free Football Game to the kid in the city there and youll see sir philip meet all football supporters so its a dream come true for a dad and were happy to be here were very thankful for them coming to supporter says chris great me in the hole and they just had a small that basically when you just take a picture and everything its all good and i think they cheered us on that day they cheered us to victory. And that was in spite of the slightly spot crowd that we had today the people who would it were really passionate the ultras with the drums the kids from the foundation this is exactly what you want to see in a country thats trying to build up its football culture. But what does the state of the domestic game mean for the national see yeah scouse ahead of the asian cup. Means to do the improving as a team now we reach our highest ranking ever on. Eleven and we feel that we could improve it in the next few games always struck me that the philippines and go players have always struck me that their potential and so on when the option came to come in and do Something Different outside of thailand it was. Scott cooper will lead the team into the ageing come alongside new head coach friend Goran Eriksson the vastly experienced swede recently signed up with the ask in a high profile appointment he could be the spark that helps philippine football reach its potential as for cooper hes a bridge between two footballing worlds combining a european upbringing with experience in Southeast Asia much like many of the players most of whom were born abroad to filipino parents and came through academies in more established more leaks. Reveal his words a little bit like a Football Club board so its actually in call for everybodys sort of Cultural Heritage is into one group much like any Football Club would do in premier leaves up on this lead or anywhere else. But with special im a unique in that sense and when youve got something unique rather than to transform it back to Something Else better to use that uniqueness and thats what we try to do gradually the focus is switching to local players probably my time in thailand most proud of this is developing new players that went on to the National Team and so were already identifying some Young Players here that can do that and so theres some exciting in place come through thats a strategy that has worked very well but of course i long to see the day when. Our local program will be at par with those. Or foreign based players are exposed to so that we have a bigger base through tuesday. Longer. Exists. Thats what makes problem for youth football here. The most popular sport in the philippines and especially manila. Thats partly because its easier to play in the cramped spaces on offer here. About why if you have a bit like. That it doesnt stop kids in brazilian for values but its true the lack of space is a problem still football is making. Biggest sport in the philippines basketball we would be maybe three four but ive seen a lot of changes and a lot of it was under a thousand people. In the Football Community but now theres millions who are aware and interested in the sport we back in two thousand and ten. There was only one pitch that we could use in manila for the National Team now we have one two three maybe six pitches that has been set up for football getting. So many kids interested in playing to say from the. Past may not be the number one sport but from where it came from. We could. Say maybe a thousand per cent prove you guys like soccer as well. So its so cool is growing here the National Team is the best its ever been and the coach is a legend but i want to know what needs to happen to push philippine football to the next level. What will it take to pack out arenas like resound Memorial Stadium here in manila. Grow we would like to see more teams and would like to see more leaks better t. V. Coverage but in order to do that there needs to be success somewhere so that encourages sponsorship comes in so it probably rests on our shoulders. So just how much of a difference could a good performance at the asian cup make who better to ask than the ultras who have followed the team through thick and thin just basically having everybody. See that there is philippine football existing there is an existing philip and team and that we can hold to. Anyone in asia football in the philippines depends on the national i really hope that our National Team will do well because once they have a very Successful Campaign football will really experience another revival here. We will feel good in the event that you think more and more people who.