"I watch the A-League on satellite TV over here and I have no doubt that a handful of Indonesian players would have a huge impact in Australia," he tells au.fourfourtwo.com.

"Honestly, five or six of the Indonesian players are just amazing footballers- they simply don't know how good they are."

Pressed for names, he revealed three.  Boazt Salosa from Persipura Jayapura. "He is an unpredictable attacking midfielder, is two footed, quickly and scores goals.

"Ismed Sosyan. A classic attacking right back, he has a great right foot which is useful from set pieces. He loves to get forward with surging runs but defends well also.

"T.A. Muasasry. He is a powerful all action striker. He never stops running and he would do great in the more physical A-League. He is two-footed and scores goals."

Gaspar, 28, has been playing in Indonesia for the last four years. He joined Indonesian side Persiba Balikpapan in 2005. He is currently teammates with new signing Adrian Trinidad, the former Perth Glory playmaker, who joined in February.

The Aussie midfielder ideally placed to become a go-between should clubs be looking at talent from this populous nation on our doorstep.

In fact, former Sydney FC coach Branko Culina called on Gaspar's services in 2007 ahead of the sky blues tie with Persik Kediri in the group stage of the ACL.

Gaspar, who played under Culina at Sydney Olympic in 2000/2001, has also played for Sabah in the Malaysian league where he played against former Socceroo Scott Ollerenshaw.

Ollerenshaw, who now runs a football tournament in Malaysia open to amateur teams from Australia (*www.borneofootballcup.com, see special deal below), agrees that in south-east Asia the cream of the crop could make the step up to the A-League, and in doing so, reverse the alarming 3+1 trend that's seen so many of our best talent move offshore .

"And it's not just me who believes in these players," he adds. "Thailand assistant coach Steve Darby recently told me that current Thai coach Peter Reid who coached in the EPL for seven years believes that Thai players Datsakorn, Teerasil, Sutee Suksomkit and Sure Sukha could all play in the EPL.

"Datsakorn is an attacking midfielder who currently plays in the Vietnamese League for Hoang Anh Gia Lai. He is a brilliant footballer who provides all the ammunition for the Thai national team.

"Darby went on to mention Le Cong Vinh and Minh Phuyet from Vietnam as being easily good enough to make an impact on the A-League. 

"From my experience (Scott) Indra Putra and Zamani from Malaysia plus Indra Shadan from Singapore are the stand out players from those Leagues who would do well in the A-League.

"There are no guarantees in football and particularly when it comes to signing imports. My question is whether it's time for our A-League clubs to start trying to combine value for money with quality," he asks.

Ollerenshaw believes the implications of the GFC mean that at some point, south east Asia will have to be looked at as a less financially risky talent base.

"Maybe, just maybe, the answer lies with the top players in south east Asia. The top players from Korea and Japan won't come simply because they can get more money in their own countries. 

"The top two or three players from these countries [Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam] would not only be good enough for the A-League, they would be huge assets in a League crying out for skilful, dynamic players.

"Add to this the extra crowd they will no doubt bring in from the Australian Asian community and you may have a match made in heaven."

* Borneo Sports & Adventure Holidays offer the following deal of eight days, seven nights to their 2009 Borneo Cup participants. For between $2070 and $2900 you receive:
- Return airfare from your Australian city-Kota Kinabalu
- Hotel based on twin share/double with breakfast
- All food and beverage as per itinerary
- Full bus transport including full time tour guide
- All tourist activities as per itinerary
- All football tournament costs
- Full accident insurance
- Welcoming goodies bag