Tickets for Hong Kong national team's friendly matches against Laos and Bahrain, as well as the Asian Cup qualifiers will be available on www.cityline.com very soon. For friendly matches, the tickets are priced at HK$150, while the Asian Cup qualifiers are priced at $200. Very steep if you ask me...
What an entertaining match it was at the end. Lots of wide open play with both teams going for the win. Kitchee's defence is suspect IMO but they're hardly ever exposed as the seven players who play in front of the three man back line possess the ball very well. When Kitchee do turn the ball over, they are hardly punished as their opponents do not have many numbers forward. Any player rushing forward towards the their back line must either take on all three defenders or turn away from goal and wait for help to arrive, allowing Kitchee to get numbers back to defend. I have yet to see anyone press their defenders when they have the ball in domestic competition. I suspect that many teams don't feel as if they have enough quality to maintain their shape if they do. In Asian competition though, nobody is going to allow Kitchee to build out of the back. It will be interesting to see how they fare then.
Here is the preliminary squad called up in preparation of the Laos friendly: Goalkeepers: YAPP Hung Fai - Eastern Long Lions WANG Zhenpang - Kitchee SC TSE Tak Him - KC Southern TSANG Man Fai - Wofoo Tai Po FC Defenders: TSUI Wang Kit - BC Rangers LEE Chi Ho - Eastern Long Lions Festus BAISE - Guizhou Zhicheng FC (China) CHEUNG Chi Yung - HK Pegasus HELIO Goncalves - Kitchee SC LAU Hok Ming - KC Southern ROBERTO Affonso Junior - R & F (HK) Andrew RUSSELL - Wofoo Tai PoFC Midfielders: JU Yingzhi - Eastern Long Lions TSANG Kam To - Eastern Long Lions WONG Tsz Ho - Eastern Long Lions XU Deshuai - Eastern Long Lions FONG Pak Lun - HK Pegasus WU Chun Ming - HK Pegasus Michael LUK Chi Ho - KC Southern Manoel dos Santos Filho (ITAPARICA) - R & F (HK) LAU Ho Lam - Sun Bus Yuen Long LAW Chun Ting - Sun Bus Yuen Long WONG Wai - Wofoo Tai Po FC TAN Chun Lok - Wofoo Tai Po FC Forwards: LO Kong Wai - Eastern Long Lions Jaimes McKEE - Eastern Long Lions CHAN Siu Ki - HK Pegasus Alex Tayo AKANDE - Kitchee SC Alessandro Ferreira (SANDRO) - Kitchee SC James HA - KC Southern Godfred KARIKARI - Qingdao Huanghai FC (China) https://www.hkfa.com/en/
The Spanish trio Jordi Tarres, Daniel Cancela and Recio have not received their passports yet. Jordi said yesterday he submitted all the required documents and should receive his HKSAR passport within weeks. I think Kim can only call them up for the November internationals.
Hmm....so I'm guessing that they should be eligible to be called up for the Bahrain friendly and Lebanon match. Anyways, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Cup match took place today with Kitchee SC and Eastern Long Lions playing. Kitchee won the match by 2 goals to 1 scored by Alex Akande and Christian Annan. Lo Kong Wai scored the one goal for Eastern Long Lions.
Kitchee inflicted the fourth defeat of the seaon on Eastern Longlions. I think Kitchee's policy of maintaining the squad as much as possible has given them a good advantage.
HKFA claims R&F Guangzhou's venue in China is not acceptable for hosting HKPL matches yet, so R&F Guangzhou vs Kitchee will take place at Hammer Hill Sports Ground. The other Hong Kong clubs are unhappy and they say if Kitchee are not going to Guangzhou then they are not going to Guangzhou, either.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news.php?id=187902&story_id=47416774&d_str=20170927&sid=4 Footballer to admit match-fixing charge Phoebe Ng 27 Sep 2017 Former Hong Kong footballer of the year Lee Wai-lim will plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud and bribery charges over match fixing, the District Court heard. Lee, 36, pictured, and four other former players of Hong Kong Pegasus Football Club face seven charges in total. They allegedly offered or accepted bribes of HK$60,000 and committed fraud by contriving or attempting to contrive the results of three football matches of the Hong Kong Football Association's Reserve Division League last year. While no plea was taken during mention of the case, Lee indicated his intention to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud and accepting an advantage. The other four - Kwok Kin-pong, 30, Michael Cheng Lai-hin, 31, Chan Pak- hang, 24, and Lee Ka-ho, 24 - will contest their charges. All five are former Pegasus players. The cases were mentioned before District Judge Frankie Yiu Fun-che who set aside 10 days for the trial from January 11 next year. A pretrial session is scheduled for December 15. The prosecution will be calling 10 witnesses, and submit statements by Kwok and Lee Ka-ho, made under caution when they were arrested in June. All five face one count of conspiracy to defraud under common law and Crimes Ordinance. Under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, Cheng and Chan Pak-hang are also charged with one count of offering an advantage while Lee Wai-lim and Lee Ka-ho face one count of accepting an advantage. The group had allegedly conspired to defraud Pegasus and the HKFA by dishonestly contriving the results of three football matches between February and March last year. They include Reserve Division League matches between Pegasus and Yuen Long Football Club on February 24, 2016, and two between Pegasus and Biu Chun Rangers Football Club on March 23, 2016, and April 13, 2016. Lee Wai-lim was the most notable player among the five. He played for the Hong Kong team internationally and was picked as Hong Kong footballer of the year in 2009. When the alleged offense was committed, Lee was the assistant coach of Pegasus. The bribery charge accused him of receiving HK$20,000 from Michael Cheng as an inducement to contrive match results. Pegasus, a Hong Kong Premier League team, is chaired by author, singer and businesswoman Canny Leung Chi- shan.
R&F Guangzhou vs Kitchee is now postponed to 25 November. R&F Guangzhou must present a proposal to improve their stadium to HKFA standards by 13 October. R&F Guangzhou are scheduled to play Dreams FC on 5 Nov and Lee Man on 18 Nov at home.
Eastern Long Lion's winless run continues as they lost to HK Pegasus by a goal. Lo Kong-Wai's awkward clearance came down to the path of HK Pegasus's Mahama Awal who delivered a cross to Travis Major to head the ball past Eastern's goalkeeper.
The final 23-man squad for the Hong Kong National Football team has been confirmed to play in a friendly match with Laos and the AFC Asian Cup 2019 qualifier against Malaysia which also includes 3 additional players who were not in the preliminary list as follows: Goalkeepers YAPP Hung-Fai - Eastern Long Lions TSE Tak Him - KC Southern WANG Zhenpang - Kitchee SC Defenders LEE Chi-Ho - Eastern Long Lions ROBERTO Affonso Junior - R & F (HK) HELIO Goncalves - Kitchee SC TSUI Wang-Kit - BC Rangers *Dani CANCELA - Kitchee SC *Fernando RECIO - Kitchee SC Midfielders HUANG Yang - Kitchee SC XU Deshuai - Eastern Long Lions JU Yingzhi - Eastern Long Lions TAN Chun-Lok - Wofoo Tai Po FC Manoel dos Santos (ITAPARICA) - R & F (HK) WU Chun-Ming - HK Pegasus FC Forwards Jaimes McKEE - Eastern Long Lions LO Kong-Wai - Eastern Long Lions WONG Wai - Wofoo Tai Po FC Alessandro Ferreira (SANDRO) - Kitchee SC Alex Tayo AKANDE - Kitchee SC James HA - KC Southern *Jordi TARRES - Lee Man FC (on loan from Kitchee SC) *Additional Player Source: https://www.hkfa.com/en/ What are your thoughts of this squad?
The newly naturalized Spanish trio completed their first day of training with the Hong Kong national team and all of them said they are proud to represent Hong Kong and will fight for a win against Malaysia. I think they will all get a run against Laos and then probably play as substitutes against Malaysia. After all they are all over 34 and are no spring chicken. Jordi Tarres is likely to be used as a replacement for either McKee or James Ha if he plays.
I think that the Laos match will be used as an opportunity for coach Kim Pan Gon to experiment with his squad and I believe that Cancela, Recio, Tarres will feature during the match whether they are in the starting XI or on the substitute bench. What would be your ideal starting XI for the Laos and Malaysia matches?
It has to be an offensive minded starting XI. I'd start with Alex and Sandro up top with Itaparica in the hole behind then and build from there.
Biu Chun Rangers convener Mr. Mok has a reward of HK$100k for two players, Lau Cheuck-Hin and Cheung Kwok-Keung, and assistant coach Cheung Wai-Hong (first from left, yellow shirt), to reduce their body weight. What an embarrassment. Even DJ Jan Lamb made fun of this piece of news this morning on his 903 radio show.
Apple Daily reports that the Spanish trio will likely start against Laos. Many think the trio's inclusion has further reduced the chances of the "local" players. But coach Kim said their inclusion is just a short term solution. I have no problem with this. When I played football for fun, my teammates are always looking around for better players to take my place. If I were to keep my spot then I had to improve. Football is a very competitive sport. The local players are not up to international standard because they did not receive proper training when they were young, due to various short-sighted people and problems, unlike the "imports" that we have in the squad now. We need to beat Malaysia and we must be more aggressive playing at home. We need to hit them hard and early. I think we should start with Godfred Karikari, Jaimes McKee and Alex Akande up front, with Itaparica behind them. Sandro should take a rest. Jordi should be the replacement should any of the strikers become tired or injured.
Finally some new about one of my favourite players Au Yeung Yiu-Chung. He is opening a new eatery called Y Show Tasty in Tsim Sha Tsui with his manager. He is still contracted to Guizhou club but there are 5 or 6 players competing for the same playing position so it is very tough. His contract will not run out until end of 2018 and he expects to see it through before returning to HK or look for another overseas opportunity.
Just got the starting XI to face Laos: 1. YAPP Hung-Fai - Captain 3. TSUI Wang-Kit 4. Fernando RECIO 5. HELIO Goncalves 7. LO Kong-Wai 9. James HA 13. WONG Wai 16. Dani CANCELA 17. Jordi TARRES 22. WU Chun-Ming 23. XU Deshuai https://www.facebook.com/hkleague/p...506791559607/1697965963547011/?type=3&theater So it seems that all 5 of the uncapped players are set to debut during the Laos match.
So the match ended in Hong Kong's favor as they beat Laos by four goals. Newly naturalised Spaniard Jordi Paramo TARRES scored his first international goal in the 9th minute. This was soon followed by Wofoo Tai Po's WONG Wai who scored his first goal for the national side 4 minutes later. Godfred KARIKARI netted the 3rd goal on the 73rd minute. Lastly, after missing a penalty in the last game, SANDRO made no mistake this time as he finally scored from a penalty on the 83rd minute.
Jordi scored his first goal for Hong Kong, showing his class and ability. I think Kim Pan-Gon withdrew him and Recio in the second half to save them for the Malaysia match. James Ha did okay but he wasn't really all that great compared with Jaimes McKee. The other young players did okay. I hope they keep working hard and gain more experience. Our attack was fairly messy even against a mediocre Laos defense. Okay we could have gotten 5 goals but it was not the goals but the play that was the problem. A few times we had players going for the same ball. I really cannot see us improve much by the time we play against Malaysia. Hopefully Recio and Jordi will provide that extra edge we need on Tuesday. I hope we can get a narrow win.
Well, at least the national team finally gained its first win after drawing their previous matches so far this year. But other than that, I really do hope that Hong Kong can achieve the result when they face Malaysia within the next few days, although I have a feeling this could be a very tight match as they will require a win to keep their qualification hopes alive.
South China Morning Post Hardcore fans boo national anthem before Hong Kong friendly soccer match against Laos Despite a ‘respect’ the national anthem law being in place in mainland China, a group of spectators at Thursday night’s match at Mong Kok Stadium make their feelings known Chan Kin-wa A block of hardcore Hong Kong fans booed the national anthem, despite a recent law in China forbidding such actions, during Thursday’s soccer friendly against Laos. Hong Kong trounced the visitors 4-0 at Mong Kok Stadium but a section of fans, mainly in the North Stand, made their feelings known when the March of the Volunteers was played. Some were even seen pointing their middle finger during the ceremony, irking soccer officials who were afraid another episode like this would happen again. On the pitch, Hong Kong easily accounted for a young Laos side in preparation for their crucial Asian Cup qualification home match against Malaysia on Tuesday. Although the match attendance was down from previous encounters involving the Hong Kong national squad, there was still a sizeable crowd of 2,200 spectators – roughly one third of the seating capacity of 6,200 – who made their feelings known about the national anthem. The Hong Kong Football Association refused to comment on the latest incident to hit Hong Kong soccer. They had said before the match “it was business as usual” and no additional security measures would be taken. It is understood that more than 20 security personnel were deployed at the match. When Hong Kong hosted China at the same venue in the World Cup qualifiers in 2015, the number of security personnel reached more than 200. “We have to consider the importance of the match, the potential risk of fans’ misbehaviour and other security factors before coming up with a plan,” said a source. “It would be very difficult to stop them if they want to boo the national anthem. It’s their own decision. In fact, the law is still not yet incorporated into local legislation and this may affect the fans’ attitude.” In early September, the National People’s Congress passed the national anthem law, saying “attendees at events where the anthem is played are required to stand straight and remain solemn for the song under the law”. While offenders on the mainland would be liable to 15 days’ detention, Hong Kong citizens would not be affected until legislation is passed in the city for the law. Even if the law is adopted, it could be difficult to enforce. Former Legislative Council chairman Jasper Tsang Yok-sing wrote last month in his newspaper column that if booing of the national anthem takes place at a soccer match, it involves too many people and would be difficult to handle. The recent trend of booing the anthem began two years ago in the wake of the Occupy protests. The Football Association has since been fined twice by Fifa for failing to control crowd behaviour. However, on the pitch Hong Kong coach Kim Pan-gon was a satisfied man as squad, sprinkled by new players, who have become naturalised players, joining the fray. Forward Jorge Tarres, who scored the first goal for Hong Kong, was named the MVP on his international debut. However, the 36 year-old was unsure whether he will start for Hong Kong against Malaysia on Tuesday. “I come to each match and do my best for the team. Whether I will be starting again in the next match is not my decision but the coach,” said Tarres, who obtained his Hong Kong passport on Tuesday along with Daniel Cancela and Fernando Recio, who all appeared in the starting line-up against Laos. “Of course I feel very happy as I have been waiting for this opportunity for seven years. I am very proud to be representing Hong Kong and I want to give my best to the fans.” Also scoring for Hong Kong were Wong Wai, Godfred Karikari and Leonardo from the penalty spot. Despite the result, coach Kim was not overly happy as their finishing was far from ideal against a young and inexperienced side. “We will need to analyse our performance in the next couple of days so that we can be better prepared for the match against Malaysia,” he said. Both Hong Kong and Malaysia need to win the match if they want to keep their hopes alive in the group which also features Lebanon and North Korea. Lebanon are leading with seven points while Hong Kong and North Korea are tied in second place with two points. Malaysia stay at the bottom with one point.