Over the canal the difference between the Mainland is clear to the eyes and nose. A wire net has been set up to stop illegal immigration.

High rises line up like in Hong Kong. There are only two stadiums.

　　People’s Republic of China, special administrative region, Macau.
　 The high rise apartment buildings are crowded closely and seem to be competing with one another to peak above the rest.　On the very top floors there are still steel, thief-proof bars over the windows. In the cages there is washing drying on hooks. The top floors are covered in sunlight but as the floors decrease so too does the light and at the bottom of these high rises it’s dark even during the day.

　Macau’s economy is built around gambling.
　 Football is just something else to bet on. An hour before kick off football fans go out on the streets to buy tickets from the lottery stalls. But they hardly ever go to watch the actual matches. They only watch the European league matches on TV.
“There is an abundance of football knowledge so the potential is there but the problem is a lack of passion for the game” explains Imai Masataka, Japanese coach of this year’s national team.

　It has been three and a half years since Portugal handed Macau back to China. They separate it from the Mainland by calling it a Special Administrative Region. The distance between this Special Administrative Region and the Mainland is still large.
“This is a small island where space and possibility are limited.” “We’ve reached the limit.” are statements that illustrate that Macau’s youngsters have given up.
　 For Macau to succeed, first they have to become champions of their studies. For this reason parents hope that their children will strive towards their studies not football. Macau football is being tripped up by a policy of “study first”.
　 Right now, the national team is in the middle of preparations for achieving a good result at the 2005 East Asian Games. But before strengthening the team Imai needs to work on unearthing the player’s passion for football at the grassroots level.

　Just like Macau’s citizens, I can’t see a way out for Macau football.