SUTHERLAND Shire Football Association junior Brendan Gan, a former Sydney FC player, is carving out a successful career in Malaysia with top club side Kelantan FA.
The 26-year-old midfielder who grew up in Engadine is keenly watching the AFC Asian Cup in progress on Australian soil.
Gan, who played for the Malaysian under-23s in the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea, has been impressed with the Socceroos, who have made it through to the quarter-finals of the cup.
Gan thinks the tournament will be a winner with the Australian public and further boost Australia's football profile throughout Asia.
"It is a very competitive cup with many teams that appeared at the World Cup," Gan told the Leader.
"Asia is growing so quickly in football terms and to be recognised as the champions of Asia as a nation is very important in a world football sense.
"For Australia to have its first big footballing event is amazing for the nation, as football over the past five years has grown so quickly and will continue to grow with events like these.
"The impact will be enormous for Australia and its footballing culture, as it will drive more and more sponsors and television networks to publicise their products which will only create revenue for the game increasing knowledge about our domestic league world wide, which will bring in well known and better players to help our game grow."
Gan started playing football with the Marton Hammers before progressing to Sutherland Sharks where played from under-12s to first grade.
Gan, whose father is Malaysian and his mother is Australian, has been playing professional football in Malaysia for the past year.
"My father still has family in Malaysia, so I visited there for holidays and and my first football experience was in 2012 when I joined Malaysian Super League side Sabah," Gan said.
"I returned home for a year [and played for Rockdale City Suns], then returned to Malaysia to join Kelantan where I'm now going into my second season."
And would Gan be interested in returning to the A-League — possibly with a new franchise based at Cronulla and covering southern Sydney?
"The A League is fantastic, you can see it is getting better year by year with the attraction of players from overseas and also coaches, the stadiums and facilities A-League clubs have are brilliant," Gan said.
"There is only one way to go for the A-League and that is up.
"I would love another crack at the A-League but Malaysia is a young league and the progress it has made in the past few years is exciting. I'm glad to be a part of it."
The midfielder said he was under contract for another season at Kelantan.
"I am here for another season and I am enjoying it so far," he said.
"Our season starts in February and we are now in our fifth week of pre-season training."
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