Hong Kong Football Thread II (R)

According to Offisde.hk, it seems like there are further fixture cancellations due to political unrest going on in Hong Kong.

The upcoming games which include R&F HK Vs Happy Valley set to be played in Guangzhou and Lee Man Vs Kitchee SC set to be played in Shum Shui Po have been postponed. There is no further news on the reschedule at this time.

In addition according to the HKFA website, the home friendly match against Malaysia which was scheduled to be played on October 15th, has now been cancelled.

This is going to be a huge blow for Hong Kong football, if the political unrest (in Hong Kong) continues to go on like this.

They do have two home fixtures against Bahrain and Cambodia in November in which I hope these matches will not be affected.

 

I would suggest that Macau replace Malaysia as the opponent for 15 Oct but given that most of the Macau players have retired from international competition, they probably could not field a squad for an "A" friendly, let alone a "B" friendly.

 

Its good to hear that Wong Wai has found a club and hopefully he will regain his form in preparation for the Iraq match.

Looking at the 33-man preliminary list, if you were to reduce it down to 23, which players should make it in the final squad?

 

A mostly English interview with Fabio. He talks about the various Brazilians players he's helped bring to Hong Kong, the beef with Komazec and the late Cheung Sai Ho.

 

Further fixtures within the HKPL, First, Second and Third divisions have been postponed and will be rescheduled.

 

Sad that it's come to this but I'm not sure the HKFA had any other choice.

 

Here is the final squad for the away fixture to Iraq:


Not much changes to the squad other than Xu Deshuai making the cut.

I'm actually quite baffled with some of the choices especially with the lack of strike force in the squad. Alex Akande has not been getting much first team regular football with his club Dalian Yifeng and although Sun Ming-Him still has potential, I still don't feel he is quite ready at senior level. Personally, I would've replaced the two with either James Ha, Chan Kwong-Ho or Giovane.

 

Couple of thoughts:

• Likely came down to Ha vs Akande, and he decided Akande was a proven veteran who can play across the front
• He seems to like developing certain young guys, like Sun MH and Law TZ
• His variance is the lowest of all coaches in recent memory (e.g. he sticks with essentially the same 23)

 

Apparently it was reported that James Ha sustained an injury which is why he was not picked for the final squad which is a real shame.

Either ways, I still have some questions on Alex Akande's form as he has yet to get much first team football with his club so far and I don't exactly know if he can perform if he were to feature on Thursday, although I'd imagine he will probably on the subs bench.

 

That's a good point about Alex because he's at a critical juncture in his career. When he came off the bench in Cambodia on the 5th of September, that was his first action since 1 May and the first time he'd even made the bench since mid July. After he came off the bench against Iran five days later, he's yet to even make the bench again for Dalian. Clearly Rafa doesn't rate him.

Of course, he's probably making more in the CSL than he has at any point in his career but he's not a 23 year old trying to break into the starting XI. He's 30 and he can't even make the match day squad. I hope he seriously considers leaving at the end of the season to go somewhere, even if it's a step down and requires a pay cut, where he can be a regular starter.

 

Alex and Andy Russell should both drop to League One. They performed well there, had regular playing time and it's a standard higher than the HKPL. Look at how well Tsui WK is thriving there.

 

Here is the starting eleven of the HK national team to face against Iraq:



Very surprised that Alex got the go ahead of Sandro.

 

HT: Iraq Vs Hong Kong - 1:0

• Hong Kong's Dani Cancela conceded a penalty earlier in the first half, but it was lucky that Iraq's shot was saved by Yapp Hung Fai.
• However, Iraq finally broke through and Ali scored in the 38th minute.
• Hong Kong were pretty much very defensive throughout the match with very little chances of any goal attempts so far.

 

• Yapp has been commanding in goal; a return in form for "Hero Fai"
• Law Tze Chun has shown great composure and ball control; deserves to start more
• Alex needs to stop going to the ground on the slightest contact constantly
• Roberto had a few exquisite passes

 

HD free stream for those interested: https://www.alkass.net/alkass/live....6Jr3Kxy8Tettd4rJ45II8AUwYOmmFvHFC6B7wWSPci1mY

 

FT: Iraq Vs Hong Kong - 2-0

Once again, Hong Kong were not able to achieve the result they were looking for as they conceded another penalty on the 79th minute when I think it was either Helio or Dani Cancela fouled the Iraqi player. Ali Adnan stood up and scored from the spot.

Despite drafting in Sandro and Wong Wai at the late stages, I felt that it was too little too late for them to make an impact for the national team. Thus, Mixu Paatalainen search for his first win continues as he will need to make a lot of preparations for the home games against Bahrain and Cambodia next month.

I'm aware that there are a lot of things affecting Hong Kong at this time, but hopefully there will be at least a number of HKPL matches in play so that the players can be in much better form for next month and perhaps we could get the likes of naturalised players such as Sean Tse Ka-Keung and Diego Moreira Eli who should be able to achieve the Hong Kong passports to help bolster the squad.

 

Dani Cancela conceded both penalties, we are lucky Yapp saved one of them.

Helio needs to be replaced by Leung Nok Hang or Sean Tse immediately

And lastly, why was Tong Kin Man selected ahead of Tsui Wang Kit? Makes no sense.

 

Yes, I'm not suggesting we replace Dani. He made multiple smart, veteran plays. But it is clear that Law Tze Chun is the future.