Hong Kong 4:0 Macau The B team achieved its mission. Lam Hok-Hei was praised by the coach. Macau performed better in the second half, they will need to keep it up if they are to get a result against India tomorrow. Better suffer a defeat on Saturday than on Tuesday in the AFC Cup qualifier.
Kim Pan-Gon gave his players instruction on how to approach tonight's AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Malaysia in Malacca. Kim Pan-Gon is under pressure now as many fans have called for his removal. If Hong Kong does not win the match tonight his contract extension maybe in doubt. I think he can survive if we draw with Malaysia, but if we don't beat Malaysia at home in October then he is likely to be given the boot.
The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Kitchee's Alessandro Ferreira (Sandro) gave Hong Kong the lead before they conceded a goal a few minutes after. Sandro did have the opportunity to give Hong Kong the win and unfortunately his penalty was saved. Overall, I do question their defence for conceding the goal. Here are the highlights:
I was quite certain Malaysia would come back from 1 goal down. When we got the penalty I thought we would win this, but as soon as I saw it was Sandro who was going to take the penalty, I thought otherwise, because he was clearly very, very tired. Even my wife said she did not think Sandro would score. The fans question why Itaparica, who only came on for the last 10 minutes, was not asked to take the penalty instead. Anyway I am very glad to see Wong Wai play so well. When he came on he really added some bite to the attack. Now we will have to focus on getting the players fit for the return match in November. We must get the 3 point at home. If we are lucky we could get a couple more naturalized players like Beto, Jordi Tarres, Recio and Dani Cancela.
We didn't deserve more than a point. A draw was the right result based on the balance of play as both sides squandered many, many scoring opportunities. Lack of clinical finishing may prove to be the end of both sides' chances to qualify. The Malaysian player who got sent off is total idiot. What a stupid way to pick up a yellow card, much less his second yellow, by re-entering the pitch without the referee's permission. However, I felt that the Hong Kong team lacked urgency in pushing the ball into the box afterwards. There were too backwards and sideways passes. I thought that the penalty was soft. It's poetic justice in a way that Sandro missed because I think it was a harsh call against Malaysia. We were nearly gifted a win despite our lack of urgency. If this is Kim's final match in charge, I think his legacy will be just that: waiting too long to make adjustments and substitutions.
I agree we did not play well and we did not look likely to win. But when we had a penalty in injury time I thought we got lucky, until Sandro stepped up. The two sent off Malaysians will actually benefit North Korea, as they are the one that Malaysia will face next. Which is kind of unfair as Malaysia was originally scheduled to play us again next. Malaysia will have to face North Korea in Pyongyang and then us in Hong Kong in succession on 5 and 10 Oct. That might be an advantage to us as they will come to Hong Kong tired after a proper qualifier, while our players should be more fresh as they will only play a friendly against Laos. We could send in more 2nd stringers in the friendly. It is very unlikely Hong Kong can win this group, so we can only think about finishing second. We will need Lebanon to beat North Korea and Malaysia at home and prevent them from taking points. Then of course we must get our act together in the 3 remaining matches.
Actually given the China national football team's woes, I think it may not be out of the question for Tsun Dai to be called up by China. The national team is full of older players, it is time to rebuild and Tsun Dai could be the young talent they are looking for.
I did mention this a few posts ago, that both Recio and Dani Cancela will be receiving their HK passport this month: #Kitchee players Dani & Recio expected to receive their HKSAR passports on Sep 17th - then eligible as local players in league + NT #HKPL— Football in Hong Kong (@offsideHK) August 15, 2017
Hong Kong national team have returned to Hong Kong. Kim Pan-Gon said now the chances of qualifying for the Asian Cup is fairly slim, but of course the team will fight on till the end. I think Kim should stay for the 3 remaining matches, but after that he should go.
Do you think it benefits us more if Malaysia and North Korea play to a draw or if Malaysia wins? I was thinking about this today and initially, I thought that a draw would be most beneficial. But then after thinking some more, I figured that if Malaysia is not a threat to finish above us, then it would be better if they could take all three points. I wouldn't be too concerned about that. If he has a parent or grandparent born in the mainland then China can call him up right away, assuming he has a Chinese passport. However, if he doesn't, then he is not eligible for selection unless he's lived in the mainland for two years. The same rules that allowed us to naturalize Huang Yang, Wang Zhenpeng, Bai He and others would be the same rules that apply to naturalizing Tsun Dai. Also, China only recognizes one nationality. Therefore, in order to gain a mainland passport, would he not also need to renounce his British citizenship? Until Brexit is finalized, he still has the right to work in any European Economic Area without a work permit so it doesn't make sense for him to limit his options.
Of course it would be better if Malaysia gets a draw in Pyongyang. But that is highly unlikely. North Korea will beat them. We have to win our home matches and then try to get a result in Pyongyang, that's the only way. Hopefully Malaysia can get a result at home against North Korea next March. They can always offer him a lucrative contract to Tsun Dai and lure him to the CSL. Play in the CSL for two years and he is a mainlander. FIFA only cares about whether he has a Chinese passport and CFA may not force him to give up his British citizenship, depends on how desperate they get.
South China Morning Post Forget draw and win next two games, urges Hong Kong captain Yapp Hung-fai after AFC Asian Cup disappointment Sandro’s missed stoppage-time penalty in Malaysia blew golden chance of victory Chan Kin-wa Hong Kong captain Yapp Hung-fai told his fellow players to put behind the disappointing draw against Malaysia in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers behind them, after Sandro missed a penalty to win it in stoppage time on Tuesday. “We can’t think too much about it,” said the Eastern goalkeeper. “We still have to host Malaysia next month and the most important thing is to beat them and get a victory. “Now we have to take it match by match regardless of who we are going to play, and hopefully we can win all the remaining matches.” Malaysia were lucky to get a 1-1 draw in front of their home fans at Hang Jebat Stadium in Malacca after giving away the spot kick in added time period. After Alex Akande was brought down in the box – and two Malaysian players were sent off in the aftermath of the incident – Hong Kong looked well set for their first win of the qualifiers. But Sandro, top scorer in the Hong Kong Premier Leauge last season with 21 goals, hit a weak shot which was easily blocked by the goalkeeper. The Kitchee striker had opened the scoring for the visitors shortly after the break in the Group B contest, only for Syazwan Zainon to pull the home side level. “We showed great determination to win and did pretty well, especially in the first half, but were only let down by failing to bring home a victory,” said Yaap. Their second point of the campaign lifted Hong Kong level with North Korea, who were earlier held to a 2-2 draw at home by group leaders Lebanon (seven points), ith Malaysia at the foot of the table with one point from two games. Hong Kong’s next two games are at home to Malaysia (October 10) and Lebanon (November 14), before a trip to North Korea in March next year. The top two in the group qualify for the 2019 Asian Cup.
HKFA CEO Mark Sutcliffe said the new TKO Football Training Centre will finally open next February. There will be 3 real grass fields and 3 artificial turf fields, there are three more 5-a-side fields sponsored by AFC. The grass fields will be primarily for the use of the Men, Women and Youth national teams' use. The artificial turf fields will be open for public to rental. Although football clubs are considered "public", they will get priority over the general public. Finally we have our very own training centre. This is big for the future of Hong Kong football. Hopefully we will get more home grown players in the future.
Eastern Long Lions vs Wofoo Tai Po - 1-3 Despite Aleksandr Kokko giving Eastern Long Lions the lead in the first half, defender Lee Chi-Ho was sent off on the 55th minute. Wofoo Tai Po struck back with 3 goals in the second half from Yuen Chun-Sing, Dudu and a brilliant solo effort by captain Wong Wai.
Looking at Hong Kong's chances of qualifying for the 2019 Asian Cup, they will need to win all of their remaining games if they were to stand a chance of qualifying. Which players do you guys think should be called up or dropped for their upcoming matches?
Hong Kong Pegasus 3:2 R&F Guangzhou. Macanese striker Leong Ka-Hang scored two goals and was voted Man of the Match. Kitchee 7:0 Dreams FC Lucas scored 4 goals and Sandro SCORED A PENALTY. Captain Lo Kwan-Yee scored, too. The other goal was scored by Jared Lum. Kitchee tops the league table with two wins and better goal difference. Second is Hong Kong Pegasus also with two wins.
Definitely include Wong Wai, he is playing fantastic football right now. Roberto should be back and he should play left back. Helio should be centre back while Festus Baise move up to defensive midfield. Jordi Tarres and Dani Cancela should play against Laos to see if they can fit in.
Cheung Wai Ki becomes the first womna to play in the W League in Australia after signing a contract with Brisbane Roar. Good luck Wai Ki!
I was actually impressed with Wong Wai's performance against Eastern Long Lions (especially his goal scored) and I do agree with you that he should be included for the national team's upcoming matches. Should they receive their Hong Kong passports in time, Kim should consider calling up Tarres, Recio and Cancela to the squad and use the Laos match as a test like you said to see if they fit in. In addition, I've also found this interesting blog about the history of naturalised players within the Hong Kong national football team. (It's in Cantonese by the way.)
In one of his latest blog posts, Sutcliffe claims that it is impossible to replace Kim before next summer because the government pays his salary. The government would not agree to pay the remainder of Kim's salary as well as the salary of the replacement.
Well I don't oppose to him staying on until the end of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers which runs until end of March 2018. From then on there are no competitive matches for HK to play. The HKFA should begin looking for a replacement next March.
Looks like Wofoo Tai Po FC's Japanese born player, Yuto Nakamura will be applying for a Hong Kong passport next year: After 7 years in #HK, Yuto Nakamura will revoke his Japanese nationality and apply for #HKSAR passport in 2018; ready to join national team— Football in Hong Kong (@offsideHK) September 13, 2017
Final Score: Eastern Long Lions Vs Lee Man FC - 2-3 Eastern Long Lions have suffered their 3rd defeat and possibly their worst start of the season so far.