It wasn't that long ago that an Asian player playing in the top leagues in Europe was a rarity. The national teams of Japan and South Korea were largely made up of domestic-based players.

My how the times have changed, especially in the case of Japan and South Korea.

In the recent friendly between the two nations in Sapporo, 14 of Japan's 24-man squad were European based and that didn't include regulars Yuto Nagatomo (Inter Milan), Michihiro Yasuda (Vitesse Arnhem) or up-and-comers Takashi Usami (Bayern Munich) and Takashi Inui (VfL Bochum).

Korea's squad had slightly less European-based players, only 6 of 24, but that didn't include Son Heung-min (Hamburger SV), Jung Jo-gook (Auxerre), Ji Dong-won (Sunderland) or the injured Lee Chung-yong (Bolton) who can all be called regulars for the Korean national team.

That list will only grow too with the likes of Yoon Bit-garam and Lee Seung-yeoul likely to attract serious interest from Europe before too long.

While only a decade or so ago most Japanese and Korean players were happy to stay in their domestic leagues in comfortable surroundings and earning a healthy salary, the new breed, growing up on a diet of European football, are more determined than ever to make their way to Europe and test themselves.

One of the "new breed" is Keisuke Honda, who moved to VVV Venlo in 2008 before moving to his current club, CSKA Moscow, in 2010. Not content with just being the best player in the J.League, he has always said he wants to play at a higher level, a stance he even maintains despite playing at one of the biggest clubs in Russia.

But it seems to have been the instant success of Shinji Kagawa that has really opened the eyes of recruiters in Europe, especially in Germany.

Signing with Borussia Dortmund for a bargain basement transfer fee of just €350,000, Kagawa starred in his debut season, scoring eight goals in 20 games, before a foot injury sustained at the Asian Cup in January ended his season.

Since the 2010 FIFA World Cup, six of Japan's 23-man squad have moved overseas while another 12 players not in the World Cup squad have left the J.League for overseas clubs. That's 18 players in just over a year that have moved from Japan to Europe.

And they're not moving to just any two-bob league either - nine have moved to Germany (eight to Bundesliga, one to 2.Bundesliga), three to Holland while the others have moved to the top flights in Belgium, Croatia, England (Championship), Greece, Italy and Spain.

While the flow of Koreans hasn't quite reached the level of their fierce East Asian rivals, none of their domestic-based players from their 2010 FIFA World Cup squad have moved to Europe, it's the number of young Koreans moving to Europe where the interest lies.

In the last six months we've seen rising stars such as Ji Dong-won (20, Sunderland), Koo Ja-cheol (22, VfL Wolfsburg) and Park Joo-ho (24, FC Basel) head for the bright lights of Europe.

On top of that are emerging stars that have been in Europe for a few years now and are starting to make their mark, most notably Son Heung-min, who at just 19 is now becoming a regular for Hamburger SV, and Ki Sung-yueng, 22, who is a regular for Celtic.

Throw in Nam Tae-hee (20, Valenciennes), Lee Yong-jae (20, FC Nantes), Ju Tae-yun (20, FSV Frankfurt) and Suk Hyun-jun (20, FC Groningen) and you begin to see that the future of the Korean national team is indeed in Europe.

And like Japan, the players are increasingly playing in the top leagues in Europe. There are three in the EPL, five in France (two in Ligue.1, three in Ligue.2), and three in Germany (two in Bundesliga, one in 2.Bundesliga).

Not only does this show that Asian players can match it in the best competitions in the world, by having national team players, or players likely to break into the national team in the future, playing regularly in these leagues means the national teams of Japan and Korea are only going to strengthen in the years to come.

Both nations made the Round of 16 at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and both put in standout performances at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, with Japan emerging the eventual Champions. They are the benchmark sides.

Gone are the days when Asian players were a rarity in Europe, the days when national teams were made up of domestic-based players. We're entering a new era, and in this new era, the future is Asia.