When Asia Welcomed the World

This is the story of the 2002 World Cup, a tournament that saw heart-warming stories and controversy intertwined. The book resurrects the great characters who lit up 2002's biggest footballing stage - Ronaldo, Oliver Kahn, David Beckham and Ru?tu Recber among them - and examines the tournament's controversies and giant-killing upsets.

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When Asia Welcomed the World tells the story of the 2002 World Cup, a tournament that will be remembered for many reasons, from heart-warming stories to dark accusations. The book resurrects the great characters that lit up 2002's biggest footballing stage, including Ronaldo, Oliver Kahn, David Beckham and Ru?tu Recber, as well as humbling defeats for the game's giants at the hands of comparative minnows. It also explores the tournament's controversies and issues that arose before it had even begun. This was Asia's first ever World Cup, with South Korea and Japan also acting as the continent's first ever co-hosts. The tournament's legacy has proved to be a divisive one, but it has remained ingrained in football's collective memory for 20 years and will continue to do so.