A goal discovered on the outskirts of town.

The mainstream of vibrant Ulan Bataar.

　 Just to the south of Mongolia’s capital, Ulan Bataar, is the east-west running Tuul river which, even halfway through April, despite being able to see the riverbed’s gray gravel is still frozen and unmoving.
　 In late September this country, that lies at an altitude of well over 1000m above sea level, starts to feel the biting cold winds of a winter that lasts for over six months.、Clouds roll over the sky, blocking the sun. The wind that blows, even now, is cold. Winter is still hanging around.

　In Mongolia, an outdoor sport like football isn’t practical. Even so, “Football has a place in their hearts of all Mongolian people” says Derek Altanbagna, a 29 year old who works at a travel agency aimed at foreigners, the narrow eyes on his round face narrow and his cheeks redden as he speaks excitedly.
　 After the collapse of this comrade of the former Soviet Union, football grounds of every size were left as keepsakes. But with the capitalism that followed most of these were transformed into buildings. Of the total population of 2,400,000 almost 30% are in Ulan Bataar, where thanks to support from FIFA (Federation of International Football Associations) and AFC (Asian Football Confederation) they have built six pitches (including artificial) that meet the official size standards.
　 Thus, due to basketball becoming professionalized in 1995, Mongolian football which had once qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympics remains a minority sport amongst the athletic population.
　 With the aim of righting this kind of situation, the Mongolian Football Association aims to spread football as widely as possible. Based around the 35 year old national head coach, Ishudoly Otogonbaire, they began completely revitalizing the youth training system 4 years ago.
　 However the pitches the kids normally play on are made up of small stones. The cost of repairing the pitches or building new ones is money Mongolia doesn’t have.

The Mongolian spring is still a long way off.