Articles by Paul Williams

About Paul Williams

Paul Williams is an Adelaide-based football writer who has reported on the comings and goings of Asian football for the past decade. Having covered the past two Asian Cups, he writes regularly about the J.League for Optus Sport in Australia, while he also regularly contributes to Arab News. Further, he has previously been published by outlets such as FOX Sports Asia, Al Jazeera English, FourFourTwo, and appeared on numerous TV and radio shows to discuss Asian football.

Arnold builds Socceroos squad based on trust

November 9, 2022 Paul Williams

The Asian Game’s coverage of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is proudly sponsored by SMC. Graham Arnold speaks a lot about trust; in his players and in his staff. He mentioned ‘trust’ ten times […]

History beckons in AFC Cup Final

October 20, 2022 Paul Williams

Kuala Lumpur last hosted the AFC Cup Final in 2019, when the intimate Kuala Lumpur Stadium provided the neutral backdrop for the clash between Lebanon’s Al Ahed and North Korea’s 4.25. That year, the local […]

Divided loyalties as Queiroz returns to Iran

October 12, 2022 Paul Williams

The Asian Game’s coverage of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is proudly sponsored by SMC. For a few weeks in early September, the drama surrounding Carlos Queiroz’s return to coach Iran for what will […]

Quiet Mooy ready to lead from the front

September 14, 2022 Paul Williams

The Asian Game’s coverage of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is proudly sponsored by SMC. As we continue our build up to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, The Asian Game will highlight the […]

Saitama the stage for more ACL heroics – but from who?

August 17, 2022 Paul Williams

Saitama Stadium has seen some magical AFC Champions League moments, from Urawa Reds’ historic title in 2007 to their repeat performance a decade later, and Al Hilal’s drought-breaking success in 2019. It is perhaps the […]

The magical ACL moment Mora doesn’t remember

August 8, 2022 Paul Williams

When Arif Aiman’s low-cross across the box was turned into his own net by Ulsan Hyundai defender Park Yong-woo, Johor Darul Ta’zim’s palatial Sultan Ibrahim Stadium almost burst at the seems. As fans spontaneously erupted […]

Chantha Bin living the dream under Honda

August 5, 2022 Paul Williams

You could almost describe Cambodia’s Thierry Chantha Bin as a Keisuke Honda ‘fan boy’, such was his admiration for the Japanese superstar, especially during his heyday with CSKA Moscow and AC Milan. When the 98-time […]

Khan the face of a ‘new’ Hong Kong

July 14, 2022 Paul Williams

Like many young children growing up in cricket-mad Pakistan, Jahangir Khan wanted to be just like superstar cricketer Shahid Afridi. Born in Attock, a city of just 146,000 in a country of 243 million, Khan […]

Abdulrahman’s return breathes life into UAE World Cup hopes

June 7, 2022 Paul Williams

On a typically balmy summer’s evening at Sydney’s cavernous Olympic Stadium for the quarter final of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, a collective gasp could be heard echoing around the barely quarter-filled stadium. It was […]

Hasebe legacy continues to grow after European success

May 19, 2022 Paul Williams

Makoto Hasebe, European champion. It has a nice ring to it and is just reward for a stellar career that perhaps only now will get the recognition it deserves. Japan has produced some tremendous footballers […]