Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.
Australia, Saudi Arabia, Iran,
China, Japan, South Korea.
Hong Kong
East Asia, West Asia(without Iran and Saudi Arabia),
Central Asia, South East Asia(ASEAN).
Chinese Diaspora
All-Time Team under Bobby Robson(Club only)
Before Park Ji-Sung, Hidetoshi Nakata and Lee Young-Pyo played in England, there was Cheung Chi Doy (張子岱)of Hong Kong. He joined Blackpool in 1960. He was not the first player of Asian origin to play in England. The honour went to Frank Soo, a Chinese-English mixed who went on to be capped by England. Nevertheless, Cheung was a pioneer in the world of Asian football.
Before the 1970's, Hong Kong was a power in Asian football. players from there formed two national teams. The Hong Kong "A" team played as the Republic of China. They had done well at Asian Cup, etc. Meanwhile, the younger players played for Hong Kong. They also finished not far behind from the other countries in Asian Cup. Cheung Chi Doy came from this interesting system of two national team.
Cheung made his professional debut as a 14 years old in Hong Kong. in 1960, a Hong Kong-based British journalist from Hing Kong Standard discovered him and recommend him to Blackpool. Over there, he joined Jimmy Armfield and Stanley Matthews. However, his playing time was limited. On January 14th, 1961, he made his debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers. The game, however, was stopped due to bad weather. Later in the month, he made his full debut against Bolton Wanderers. On November 25th, 1961, he played his second game in a 1-3 loss to Sheffield Wednesday., scoring the only goal for his club. Thus, he became the first Chinese to score in the top tier of the English league. However, due to homesickness, he returned to Hong Kong in 1962.
In 1968, Bobby Robson got his first job as a manager with Vancouver Royals. He remembered the talented Cheung Chi Doy. He signed Cheung Chi Doy and his brother. They became one of Robson's first ever signings as a manager. Cheung was the highest-paid player on the team. However, Robson's position was not secured. Vancouver Royals was merged with another club. Ferenc Puskas became the manager while Robson was sent home. Not being one of Puskas' players, he was not used regularly. He later joined St Louis Stars.
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| With Vancouver Royals |
Some of the best posts from this blog have been turned into a two-volume book: The Multiverse of the Beautiful Game: National Teams of Pure Fantasy.
Volume 1 takes you back in time and asks the questions every football fan has dreamed about. What if Brazil had a more beautiful team in 1982 — would they have cruised to the title? What if the United Kingdom could send its team to the 1970 World Cup? I believe they would have been the strongest side on earth. What if Argentina had fielded both Omar Sivori and Alfredo Di Stéfano together in 1958? What if Johan Cruyff had lined up alongside Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, and Frank Rijkaard? What if Eusébio had played for Brazil? And that's only scratching the surface — Volume 1 is packed with legendary "what ifs" that will keep you turning pages.
Volume 2 brings the fantasy closer to home. What if England had Michael Olise, Erling Haaland and others in 2026 — could they go all the way? What if Yugoslavia had gone to the World Cup in 2018? What if the United States could select more players in 2010? It would be the greatest American side ever. And what if Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi had actually played for the same national team in 2006? It could have happened — if the soccer gods had smiled on us.
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