By the way, reading local media reports saying half the team went out for drinks in their training gear during the tournament. The U18 coach launched a water bottle at one of the players (a la Ferguson), injuring him.
Felt like a game from the Kim Pan Gon era where we focus so much on holding our shape and not conceding that we don't sense the opportunities to turn the tables and attack the opponent. There was a 12 minute stretch in the second half where Hong Kong were able to find space in the Iraq third of the pitch. This was from about 60' to 72'. At that point, it would have been the right time to bring in some attacking reinforcements. Instead, what Mixu does at the the 72nd is crucial: he takes OFF Alex and replaces him with....Chung Wai Keung?!?!? We had waited more than two thirds of the match for space to attack and then he takes off a striker for a winger. But that's not all. After we go 2-0, he waits until the 86th minute or so to bring on Sandro and Wong Wai. By then the game was over. I berated Kim many times for lacking urgency and to be fair, Mixu deserves the same criticism for last night. Goal difference might not matter after Cambodia's massive loss to Iran but if we could've nicked a goal last night it would've been the first time since 2000 that we'd scored in the Middle East.
Personally, I would've put Sandro on much more earlier in the second half in place of Alex maybe around the 60th to 65th minute. If I have to be realistic for next month's home games, I predict it will be tough for them to gain a result against Bahrain, but surely they should be able to get something out against Cambodia. Other than that, I don't have any confidence that Mixu will get the results he is looking for when Hong Kong take part in the EAFF Finals against Japan, South Korea and China PR in under two months time.
Mixu has been unlucky, with so many matches canceled and being drawn into a tough group to start with. But realistically, how long before people start thinking about axing him...?
2022 World Cup AFC Group C Results: Bahrain 1:0 Iran Iraq 4:0 Cambodia Surprise win by Bahrain. That will give confidence to Bahrain and they will now think beating Hong Kong is a matter of course, if they are to top the group. Cambodia suffers another big loss and if Hong Kong beat them at home next month, then Cambodia will surely finish bottom of the group.
There's next to no chance he will be sacked before the end of his contract. As with his predecessors, his contract is paid for through funding from the government. If he were to be sacked, the HFKA would have to ask the government to not only pay Mixu not to coach, but for additional funds to hire a new manager. That is a massive blow to our chances of finishing third.
Chinese Taipei international goalkeeper Pan Wen-Chieh joins Tai Po FC: Great news today, seeing Pan Wen-Chieh has signed in Hong Kong. Fantastic GK & even better person! Hopefully pave the way for the other talented GK’s here to progress their careers 👊🏼⚽️💪🏼🇹🇼 pic.twitter.com/d9HHfWAbXQ— Jamie Brassington (@Jamie1Brass) October 17, 2019
The HKPL looks set to resume this weekend after two weeks of cancellations. Hopefully all matches go ahead as planned and we get some good matches.
Some people have alleged that the R&F-Tai Po match last night was fixed. 1186626407490883585 is not a valid tweet id 1186717359962243072 is not a valid tweet id 1186720850906628096 is not a valid tweet id 1186722527483174914 is not a valid tweet id Tai Po were 3-1 at halftime when they subbed off Sandro and their starting keeper, Alex Chin for two inexperienced players. They then conceded four straight goals to lose 5-3. Having seen the highlights, I can see how it appears to be suspicious even if the quality of defending in Hong Kong is poor. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2446370728969154
I'd probably expect Mixu Paatalainen to name his preliminary squad either by this week or next week. Based on the current performances of recent matches, which players do you think deserved to be called up?
Here is the 30-man preliminary squad named for the upcoming World Cup 2022 qualifying fixtures against Bahrain and Cambodia for next month: The squad will be reduced down the 23 on 10th November. Any thoughts of the choice of players within the list?
Not a single surprise on that list, which may be a good thing. All familiar names, I just hope Giovane and Chan Kwong Ho make the list. We need some offensive firepower!
Personally there are a couple of other players that I feel that at least deserved to be called up for the preliminary squad. In addition, I really do hope Mixu will give Giovane and Chan Kwong Ho an opportunity ahead of Alex Akande (to which I still don't quite understand why he is still named in the preliminary squad despite having yet to feature for Dalian Yifeng this season) and Sun Ming Him.
The thing is that Ju is in form and playing regularly whereas Tan is not. A change you could make to keep both in the starting XI is to just play one striker and have a five man midfield but I would prefer not to do that at home unless you have the lead. In international football you can name your entire non starting XI on the bench.
Somehow Ju's form never translates to the international game, while a rusty Tan performed extremely well in the last intl match he was involved in. I see Ju as more of a spark off the bench rather than a main starter. But Mixu, please, please replace Helio with Leung... the deathly slow Helio / Russell combo will cost us goals for sure otherwise.
Here is what former Eastern Long Lions and Hong Kong international Jaimes Anthony McKee has been up to ever since his retirement. Full Time Results of the HKPL: Tai Po Vs Yuen Long FC - 3:1 Goals from Kim Min-Ki, Michel Lugo, Luis Eduardo Nunes were enough to seal Tai Po's first win of the season against struggling Yuen Long. Lee Man FC Vs R&F HK - 1:5 Lee Man's unbeaten run came to an end as they were thrashed by R&F HK with goals coming from a Serge Deble hat trick, Giovane Alves da Sliva and Igo Sartori converted from the penalty spot.
Here are the highlights: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=410319819903853 Tomorrow, Happy Valley AA will take on Eastern Long Lions whilst Kitchee will take on BC Rangers.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=782965332150016 Hong Kong Pegasus 2:2 KC Southern District Quite a few defensive mistakes in this match. Both sides have a lot of work to do defensively.
Hong Kong Pegasus goalkeeper Zhang Chun-Hui has been fired after the draw with KC Southern District for "disciplinary issues". The rest of the team were awarded the match winning bonus as if they had won against Southern. Apparently Zhang is the one to blame for the last minute goal.
Lokolingoy should've scored seconds before that but what Zhang did was unfathomable. I see what he's trying to do in waiting until the last moment to pick up the ball in order to waste more time but he completely misjudges the speed of the ball. Should he have been released? I'm not sure. It seems like a move borne out of frustration by a club who has yet to win in the league.