Meanwhile Tsun Dai, former HK player now a mainland Chinese player, was an unused sub in Shenzhen's latest match.
Leung Nok Hang (Zhejiang), Li Ngai Hoi (Nantong Zhiyun) and Vas Nunez (Meizhou Hakka) had all made an appearance for their clubs within the Chinese Super League One.
Unfortunately, streak broken. Andy was an unused sub in his sides 2-4 loss. Tan Chun Lok played 75 minutes as his club won 3-1.
https://hk.on.cc/hk/bkn/cnt/sport/2...port&eventid=4028828d4d9a0d6f014dc43e82ec5983 Actually Oriental Daily reported that Russell played as a substitute striker but his side lost 2-4 to Chengdu Better City F.C.
https://www.wenweipo.com/a/202104/27/AP608723c7e4b0476859b89779.html The 8 HKPL clubs would like to finish the 3 cycles of league matches by the end of May due to player contracts. This will eat into the AFC Cup group I match period and they are proposing with HKFA to AFC to postpone the AFC Cup group matches.
Not really sure about this, but what are the chances of the AFC granting the HKFA their request to postpone their AFC Cup group matches to finish the league fixtures?
Dejan Damjanovic was awarded HKPL player of the month for both February and March. He is really keen to play for Kitchee in the ACL and show their rivals that HK football is not bad at all.
Tan Chun Lok has been ruled out by his club for Hong Kong's final three fixtures of the 2022 World Cup qualification which starts on the beginning of June. It will be interesting to see which other players will be named for the preliminary squad by Mixu Paatelainen.
Why??? I don't understand it. Did the club not release him? Or does Tan want to stay and nail down his spot? He is an important part of the HKNT and I am confused as to why he is not joining the squad.
It's in the article. FIFA allows clubs to block a player from reporting for international duty if quarantine is expected to last more than five days upon arrival. The other HKers in China like Li Ngai-hoi, Leung Nok-hang and Andy Russell could all miss out for the same reason.
This is pretty concerning. Tan is our best midfielder. Russell and Leung would've likely been the starting CB duo. Li would also likely be a starter, either at wing back or as a CB if its 3 in the back. We're essentially missing 4 starters, and as Vas Nunez gets regular playing time he would be competing for a spot too. We are awfully thin at the back!
You can say that a lot has changed since the Hong Kong national team last had an international fixture which was way back in the 2019 E-1 EAFF East Asia Cup. There are some players who had certainly emerged as potential players for the national team and some that remained questionable due to their recent form or lack of regular first team football. I will say that the lack of Tan and possibly the absence of Leung, Li, Russell and Nunez (who I predict could earn a call-up someday if he can keep his performance going at club level) are certainly going to leave Mixu Paatelainen and the national team with a lack of defensive and possibly midfield options going forward on to the final three fixtures. I'm curious that with the fixtures of championship/relegation groups, will Mixu Paatelainen have any opportunity to prepare and train his squad before they have to travel to Bahrain for the centralised World Cup qualifiers which commences on June 3rd or does the HKFA have something planned?
On the personnel front, I looked at recent naturalization and it seems like both Sean Tse and Diego Eli will stand a good chance of being included and starting, either as a makeshift CB or as a CDM. I think Matt Orr has proven himself a capable replacement for Tan's box-to-box role for the HKNT.
So it looks like Mixu Paatelainen will name a 36-man preliminary squad later today: Expect the HKFA to unveil a 36-man preliminary squad today. All eyes will be on the new names on the list but I'm more interested to see which of the China based players will miss out.Follow my colleague @christie_1122 to be notified when the squad is released. #hkfootball— Lester Chan (@enterchanman) April 30, 2021
When the squad is released, I hope Mixu picks as many Eastern players as possible just because of the incredible amount of luck they've had recently.
Seems like there is a delay for some reason unless Mixu wants to watch the other fixtures to possibly broaden his selection. The ones that I'm not certain whether they will be picked are the likes of Huang Yang, Tong Kin Man and Ju Yingzhi, as they haven't featured much for Kitchee this season and this could have a possible impact on their form. Which other players do you believe are possibly going to miss the cut?
Hard to say as a 36 man preliminary squad, especially with China-based players out of contention, is huge. I agree that veterans like Huang, Ju, and Tong etc will miss out though. Mixu likes to go for youth, I think he will use the extra squad size to include youngsters from Happy Valley to train with the squad. So it would make sense he wants to see today's fixtures.
One defender I think will absolutely make it based on his performances this season, and the fact that we are lacking CB's: Yu Wai Lim. Young, strong, and mentally tough - this man is ready to step up and play with the A team now.
After RCFC's surprise win over BC Rangers, I predict that goalkeeper Lam Chun Kit who had shown a string of decent saves during the match, Yue Tsz Nam and maybe Liu Yik Shing deserve a possible call-up for the 36-man preliminary squad. But overall, I do think that Mixu will retain some of the older players with a mix of fresh faces within the list which I assume we will eventually find out soon.
I think I want to correct a part of my previous statement and I should've said that Mixu should retain some of regular players not older players for his preliminary list.
Lam Chun Kit is really threatening to take away Tse Ka Wing's spot in the future. However, Lam looks a bit small - maybe even slightly smaller than Yapp - while Tse is your typical burly GK.