1. Paulino Alcántara
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Born in the Philippines in 1896, Alcántara achieved fame and success in the colours of FC Barcelona, becoming the youngest player to feature for the club at 15 years of age. He was the highest goal-scorer for the club, recording 369 goals in 357 matches (including friendly games), until Leo Messi surpassed his feat.
He helped the club to no less than 17 trophies - 10 Catalan championship titles, 5 Copa del Rey and 2 Pyrenees Cups. The powerful striker represented both Spain and the Philippines in international football, leading the latter to a historic 15-2 win over Japan at the Far Eastern Championship Games. In 2007, Alcántara was named as the ‘Best Asian Player of All Time’ by FIFA.
While on tour with the Spanish national team in 1922, Alcántara scored a thunderbolt against France in a friendly which (quite literally) penetrated the French net, earning him the nickname ‘El Rompe Redes’ (The Net Breaker). On another occasion, the Blaugrana player’s fierce strike took with it a policeman on its course into the net, thereby leading it being called the ‘police goal’.
Alcántara was equally passionate about medicine as he was about football and turned down a call from the Spanish national team to participate in the 1920 Olympics to appear for his exams. He became a practising doctor at the age of 31, after taking leave from the pitch. From 1931-34, he returned to football as Director at FC Barcelona.
Honorable Mentions
As with any list of the “best of the best”, there is an element of subjectivity combined with objectivity in this compilation of the top ten Asian footballers who have stood out for their performances in Europe. A few names that narrowly missed out are Iranian legends Mehdi Mahdavikia, Javad Nekounam, Khodadad Azizi along with Pakistani international Zesh Rehman.
