Northern Mariana Islands 1:1 Macau Despite Leong Ka-Hang's early goal, Macau's leaky defence could not cope with the NMI. It is disappointing that Macau cannot progress to round 2. But it is refreshing to see Mongolia go through for once. They seem to be making good progress.
ACL quarter-final 2nd leg: Tianjin Quanjian vs Kashima Antlers on 18 Sep Tianjin Quanjian is giving out 5,000 free tickets to Macau's football fans, in order to thank the Macau community for allowing them to host their home match against Kashima Antlers in Macau Stadium. The tickets will be distributed to people with ID documents at Macau Stadium on 15 Sep 9am to 6pm. If any tickets remain, then these will be given out on 17 Sep between 6pm and 10pm.
ACL quarter final second leg Tianjin Quanjian 0:3 Kashima Antlers Over 8,000 fans turned up at the Macau Olympic Stadium for the rare opportunity to watch two top Asian sides clash in the SAR.
https://www.scmp.com/sport/football...ashima-antlers-reach-semi-final-after-beating AFC Champions League: Kashima Antlers reach semi-final after beating Tianjin Quanjian but Macau is the real winner
It's official: Benfica de Macau will not participate in the 2019 AFC Cup. According to offside.hk, their application failed when they could not guarantee the availability of their home stadium for AFC match days.
It is mind-bogging how Macau govt is unable to support its local clubs. It is clearly not a monetary issue. Macau govt is seriously loaded. They just don't consider participation in a continental competition as a good way of promoting themselves internationally. Last season when Benfica Macau took part, they raised Macau football's profile significantly. I know the AFC Cup, particularly East Asia part, is crap nowadays. But still all the Macau govt, through its sports bureau, have to do is to guarantee 3 match days availability which can't be all that hard. School athletic meets can still be done at MUST ground or Lin Fung Stadium or even Macau University Stadium for those 3 days. It is just so dumb to have to give up participation for this kind of thing.
http://expedientesinico.com/2018/11...027dH7x4PmMeHwF9jpzhBjlGuGNBy8mH70O4Nrr4DwIRc From outside the AFC, Benfica will rethink involvement in Macau football It charmed Asia in the last edition of the Asian Confederation Cup, but this year was unable to obtain the necessary license to compete in the competition. Sport Lisboa e Benfica de Macao complain of lack of support from the Macao Football Association. Duarte Alves says he is tired of "paddling against the tide" and says that the club will consider how it is involved in sports in Macau. Sport Lisboa e Benfica of Macau, winner of the last five editions of the Elite League, will reimpose the involvement and bet that it has made in the development of the territory's football over the last seasons, after failing to guarantee participation in the edition of 2019 of the AFC Cup. The draw for the competition was held this afternoon in Kuala Lumpur without any formation of the territory pontificating in the lot of the teams that will dispute the play-off to qualify for the group stage of the competition. Group I of the race is again consigned to East Asian formations, but Macao was replaced by Hong Kong in the range of countries and territories with direct access to the competition. Duarte Alves, the sports director of Macau's top five football championships, says it is not out of a lack of will that Benfica will not compete for the second major Asian Football Confederation (AFC) club competition. The manager explains that the team could not guarantee the necessary license to play the competition and points the finger at the Macau Football Association for not having the necessary support to obtain the document: "In Macau, international competitions are held under particular conditions when compared to other countries and territories, first of all because no club has its own enclosure, "recalls Duarte Alves. "Last season, when the games were played in Macao, the Macao Football Association's application for the use of the field was made to the Sports Institute. The Association supported us both in communication with the Macao authorities and with the Asian Football Confederation. This year, unfortunately, this support has not come, "laments the sports director of Sport Lisboa e Benfica de Macao. "Access to continental competitions is intermediated by national federations. In the case of Macau it is done through the Macau Football Association and Benfica, despite having shown an interest in competing for the competition, did not get the necessary international license, "explained Duarte Alves. The young athletic director of the Eagles of the territory does not hide the disillusionment and says that the absence of the emblem embodied in continental competitions puts in question the position of the club in relation to the football of the territory: "Benfica is likely to rethink its involvement in football Macao. If the Association does not share our vision for the development of sport in Macao and does not give us its support, we will not row more against the tide, "admits Duarte Alves. Speaking to Expediente Sínico, the incarnate official explains that Benfica's participation in the 2019 edition of the Elite League is not at risk, but admits a change of attitude towards the competition: "We will try to be present, but we will have to rethink the our involvement, especially at the budget level, "said Duarte Alves. "I do not know to what extent our investment will be made on the same terms. What is the point of bringing Macau professional players and coaches with UEFA professional licenses if we are preparing players for whom we can not give them opportunities? " In addition to Benfica, also the runner-up of the last edition of the Elite League, Chao Pak Kei, tried unsuccessfully to obtain the license of the Asian Football Confederation, with a view to participating in the AFC Cup. =========================================== Portuguese language article translated using Google translate. So as I said, Macau govt needs to think more about its local sports. It just seems to me they would rather spend billions on bringing international sports (like the Macau Grand Prix) to Macau than to promote their own sports teams and use that to attract foreign fans. They would rather leave the Macau Stadium idle for most of the year.
What Alves should've done is transmit this information to the press several weeks ahead of the draw. That way, he could've controlled the narrative on the situation and put public pressure on the MFA and the Sports Institute to change their minds. If he were successful, his team would be playing the AFC Cup. If he weren't, everyone would immediately blame the authorities.
Something tells me that Macau authorities do NOT want to pit their teams against any Hong Kong teams. I don't know anything at all and it is just a suspicion. Why did they not enter tha Asian Games? (Even East Timor entered. Then Macau U23 went to play in the Chinese Champions League, ie Chinese 4th division, instead.) Why did they send a mediocre squad to the EAFF E1 Cup 1st round? Why did they not support Benfica Macau's AFC Club license application (There was no problem this year)?
The Macau media are reporting that Macau FA will host an English Premier League club and Chinese Super League club this summer. The EPL club is likely to be Southampton FC. Meanwhile, CPK is in Muizhou for a 11-a-side Belt and Road tournament.
Hakka Cup Belt & Road International Tournament CPK 1:1 Meizhou Meixian Techand F.C.. CPK wins 4:3 on penalties.
Hakka Cup CPK 1:5 Ponte Preta Two matches in two days is simply too much for any club, never mind an amateur club like CPK.
The Macau FA released a preliminary schedule for the 2019 Elite League season. Big changes: All matches are apparently played at Lin Fong Stadium (the former canidrome) in the north close to the Macau/Zhuhai border - and only on weekdays (Wed, Thu, Fri) https://t.co/AIc39nVfQf— Football in Hong Kong (@offsideHK) January 14, 2019 According to this article, the MUST is unavailable because they are currently installing artificial turf at the stadium. The Macau Stadium is unavailable because of renovations that should last six months.
They will have to rely on Lin Fung Stadium and University of Macau Stadium for the new season. The Universtiy of Macau Stadium is actually in Hengqin which is in Zhuhai, China.
Macau FA disclosed their plans for 2019. The main challenge is the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification AFC first round matches in June. Macau will also compete in the AFC U23 qualification. They will also increase their development in women's football. This is the 80th anniversary of the Macau FA so there will be celebration events. Details are still to be finalized. It was rumoured Southampton FC will come to Macau for an exhibition match with a CSL club. But I wonder why can't Southampton FC come and play against a local league XI? I really want to see local Macau players get involved more in the celebration event.
http://macaufa.com/pdf/2019/Match_info/League/Schedule/first_0123_0326.pdf This is the link for the Macau First Division match schedule. All matches to be played at Lin Fong Stadium, which is inside the soon to be demolished canidrome.
Macao First Division League kicked off last night at Lin Fong Stadium. Benfica 0-0 Ka I Hang Sai 4-1 Sporting Club
http://www.macausports.com.mo/news/...J_QdiO1Xv10C5ratd8oJTlVBj-uvY8_qE4kOnvap-gwVQ According to the above article, Macau is refurbishing the running track at the Macau Stadium and therefore the stadium is closed to all users. The work will not be completed until July. This is the first refurbishment since 2005. I acknowledge this is necessary work. I think this is also the main reason why Macau FA could not support Benfica Macau's entry into the AFC Cup this year. I guess I can understand the Macau authorities inability to help Benfica Macau. I think the long term solution is the re-construction of Lin Fung Stadium (inside the now un-used Macau Canidrome) to AFC standards. Then the territory will be able to alternate between the two stadiums in the future for Asian competitions.
Doesn't explain why this work needs to take place at the same time as the MUST Stadium turf installation. These projects should have been co-ordinated.
Macau U22 traveled to Myanmar for the Asian U23 qualifiers. They are in the same group with Japan, Myanmar and Timor Leste. Their coach Iong Cho Ieng said they will be very defensive against Japan (what else?) but will try to gain goals or even points against Myanmar and Timor Leste. I guess the match between Macau and Timor Leste could be quite even. It will be interesting to see who wins. I always think Macau should just go out and try to play more matches and tournaments, as long as they can enter. So I just don't know why they did not play in the Asian Games football tournament.
Asian U22 qualifying tournament Macau U22 0:8 Japan U22 Macau U22 0:5 Myanmar U22 Macau U22 3:5 Timor Leste U22 Macau finished bottom of the group but at least they actually took part and had a good game against Timor Leste. The players got more experience and hopefully they will keep on playing.
Southampton FC to play Guangzhou R&F in Macau in July EPL club Southampton FC will play Guangzhou R&F in Macau in late July to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Macau SAR. The Macau Sports Bureau would like to add some local Macau elements to the event. I hope the Macau national team or the Elite League champion will play maybe R&F FC or Lee Man (with Leong Ka-Hang) before the main event?