"Did you see the interview with Jürgen Klopp when he said that Shinji Kagawa is one of the best players in the world?" asks Sydney-born defender Eddy Bosnar. "For a coach like Klopp to say that, it shows how good Japan are. Nobody is saying that kind of thing about Australian players these days."

The Socceroos will get a chance to judge for themselves next Tuesday when they head to Japan for a vital 2014 World Cup qualifier. Only one team will be bursting with stars from the big European leagues, and it won't be the visitors.

The best that Australia has to offer are no longer spotted in Manchester, Liverpool or Turin but Doha, Gwangyang and Nagoya. This is more of an eastern generation than a golden one. If the past of the national team was European, then its future looks to be Asian – just like the country itself, with 12% of Australians citing Asian ancestry in a 2011 census, a figure set to rise considerably.

It is just seven years since Tim Cahill broke Japanese hearts in Kaiserslautern, helping to turn a goal deficit into a 3-1 win in Australia's first appearance at the World Cup since 1974. The starting 11 in Germany was full of Premier League and Serie A stars. Just three of the squad of 23 in 2006 played outside Europe, a number that had risen to five by the time South Africa came around four years later. Much has changed since. When coach Holger Osieck – appointed in 2010 at least partly due to his experience of leading Urawa Reds of Japan to the 2007 Asian Champions League title – named his 26 last week, only 10 faced the long trip east from Europe.

The names of the players are familiar but their clubs less so. Cahill is no longer a blue but a New York Red Bull, Mark Bresciano is with Al Gharafa of Qatar, not Parma, and Lucas Neill is clubless after recent stints in the Middle East. Over a quarter of the latest squad play in Asia - if you include those playing in Australia, it becomes a majority. And include you should - the country has been a member of the Asian Football Confederation since 2006.

Australia is an Asian football nation in name at least, but now the nature is slowly changing. Clubs in the A-League, established in 2005, have flirted with Asian players, but have still yet to really commit. Minds need to open before arms and that will be helped by the four dozen or so Australian professionals active in the giant continent from Iran to India to Indonesia.

The 2008 introduction of the Asian quota allowed clubs from Tehran to Tokyo to sign a fourth foreign player provided he was from an AFC nation. Given the financial constraints of the A-League and its strict salary cap, Australian players were usually cheap and, after receiving significant salary increases, cheerful.

Bosnar kicked around smaller European leagues for a while before moving to Japan in 2008. Four years later, he made the short journey to South Korea and Suwon Samsung Bluewings. "Players get homesick too and Asia is closer to home than Europe and the time difference is small. But the reasons to come to Asia were financial," Bosnar said. "The money is better in Asia than it is in Australia."

Money talks and so does success. Sasa Ognenovski's Korea move could not have gone better as he joined Seongnam Ilhwa in 2009, a club owned by the Moonies. Nothing fazed the big defender, who was almost 30 when he arrived. In 2010, he led the Yellows to the Asian Champions League title, became the first Australian to be named Asian Player of the Year and was called up for a national team debut. It was a reminder that there was talent down under – Korean teams were soon scrambling for clones of "The Og Monster" – and showed Australian players that there was more to Asia than just money.

Brendan Schwab is the chairman of the Asia/Oceania Division of FIFPro, the world players' union. Another Australian active in Asia, he welcomes the growing continental presence of his compatriots, especially given the relatively small number of professional opportunities at home in the 10-team A-League.

"The challenge is to develop players who are talented and worldly enough to pursue a variety of career options," Schwab said. "There is another important group – those who could struggle for A-League careers but who have embraced the next tier of Asian football, such as Indonesia. They are ambassadors. Provided the players can bring the media and the fans along with them then Australia can become an Asian football nation. Football has an important role to play in increasing Australia's 'Asian literacy'."

There are cons to this growing army of Asian pros. "The ultimate goal is players capable of playing in the world's best leagues," Schwab said. "This remains essential if our national team is to be internationally competitive. Australia is falling away in this respect. Japan is now exporting players to these leagues in increasing numbers."

More than half of Japan's squad is based in Europe. The Asian champions have dominated the group in qualification and need only a draw to book a Brazil berth while the Socceroos, with just six points from the first five games, have work to do.

Former Socceroo and Crystal Palace star Craig Foster, now a leading analyst, wrote recently that the number of young players going to Asia was "alarming" and urged them to go to Europe. Bosnar argues that it is more a question of producing players of the required quality. "I had talent but wasn't good enough to go to one of the top leagues so I came to Asia. Let's be honest, the best European leagues are better than Asian leagues. If Australia produces players that are good enough, they will go to Europe."

Schwab believes the relative lack of Australian players at the very top level is due to damage done to the country's development system a decade ago, damage that, he says, is being remedied.

Asia is a big place. Not all leagues are equal, with Japan No 1 and Korea probably next. Less respect is given to the likes of Qatar and UAE.

"I don't think West Asia is a good idea," said Bosnar. "But I'd be a hypocrite if I said I wouldn't go where the money was. But to say 'I am going to play in Qatar as there are less games so I can be fresh for the national team' is bollocks. You are going there to make more money. But if selectors choose players from west Asia to play for the national team then they must be good enough."

We will see next Tuesday when this increasingly-Asian Australian team takes on the European stars of Japan. It should be quite a match. The Socceroos may be changing, but the desire to get to the World Cup is as strong as ever.