https://hk.on.cc/hk/bkn/cnt/sport/20210707/bkn-20210707125110622-0707_00882_001.html https://www.the-afc.com/competitions/afc-cup/latest/news/afc-cup-2021-asean-zone-matches-cancelled AFC cancelled the South East Asia group matches and Lee Man could go straight into the Inter-zone play-off final against the winners between Nasaf (Uzbekistan) and Ahal (Turkmenistan). That would equal South China and Sun Hei's records of advancing to the (effectively) semi-final of the competition. But of course South China played more matches to get there.
https://www.the-afc.com/competition...ory-against-cerezo-osaka-to-create-afc-champi Kitchee vs Cerezo Osaka (18:00 HK time) I already know what Alex Chu's starting line up would be. The same as the match against Port FC except Tong Kin-Man in place of the injured Helio. Also in the game, in the 80th minute Alex Chu will make his substitutions. I think what will happen is that Kitchee will defend valiantly for 70 minutes or so and then lose by 1 or 2 goals in the late stages, due to player fatigue.
Full Time: Kitchee Vs Cerezo Osaka - 0:0 Finished goalless as the two teams couldn't score and they share the points. This now means that with 11 points, Kitchee's next round fate will depend between the final games of Daegu FC or Gamba Osaka. Even if they do not advance to the next round, Kitchee should still be proud with what they had gained as this is by far the best any Hong Kong club can achieve within the Asian Champions League. In other news, the 2022 AFC U23 Championship qualification draws had been held today and Hong Kong are grouped together with the hosts Chinese Taipei, Myanmar and Vietnam in Group I to be held later this year.
Robert Odu has now joined a Division One Spanish Club after Happy Valley's withdrawal: ¡𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, "𝐉𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫"!El joven delantero nigeriano es desde hoy jugador azulgrana.¡Bienvenido, @robert_odu9 !ℹ️https://t.co/92b6CTcfmE pic.twitter.com/fRnUyu4JzM— Extremadura UD (@EXT_UD) July 10, 2021
With Daegu FC's the current result against United City FC standing at 4-0, it is safe to say that Kitchee will not be advancing onward to the knock out stage. As I had mentioned before, Kitchee must be proud of what they had achieved within this season's AFC Champions League.
Well, Alex Chu said after beating Guangzhou 1-0 that more goals would not give his club more points, and it turns out Kitchee lost out to Pohang Steelers by 1 goal. Of course other fans said if Paulo Cesar did not concede 1 goal to Cerezo Osaka in the first game then Kitchee would be through as well by earning an extra point. Anyway I just hope Alex Chu has now learned his lesson that each and every goal is VERY important.
Ex-Happy Valley players held a press conference to talk about their salary problems. They said the club owes the coaches, players and staff a total of HK$5.5m excluding bonuses. But they are unable to contact the club's convener Mr. Chan. The club also haven't made their Mandatory Provident Fund contributions.
https://www.wenweipo.com/a/202107/16/AP60f09cdbe4b08d3407cdcff6.html Happy Valley AA convener Chan Chi-Shi promised to resolve the salary issue by sending HK$350k to HK$400k from Guangzhou to Hong Kong weekly, and all the money owed should be settled in 4 months' time. It is the best he can do and I guess the matter will be closed.
Centre back Wong Ho-yin revealed that the salaries owed to younger players would be paid last. "At one point, the balance on my bank account was down to a single digit. I had to switch to e-statements because I didn’t want my family to find out." Very tough on these young players... Source: https://www.offside.hk/league/happy-valley-players-reach-deal-with-club-over-arrears/
https://www.postguam.com/sports/loc...cle_0195d708-d8b9-11eb-b10e-37d78dc7c7a5.html According to the Guam newspaper, Post Guam, the EAFF E-1 Football Championship Preliminary Competition Round 1 will take place later this year. Realistically, they would have to do it in November because Guam has to face Cambodia in the Asian Cup playoff round. Of course, ideally I want Round 2 to take place this year so that Hong Kong can possibly grab some more points and move into Pot 2 for the Asian Cup Third Round draw but also because North Korea probably won't participate.
https://hk.on.cc/hk/bkn/cnt/sport/20210722/bkn-20210722222309943-0722_00882_001.html Both Leung Nok-Hang and Andy Russell were made captains of their Chinese Jia League clubs, Zhejiang FC and Jiangxi Beidamen respectively. Leung Nok-Hang took the captain's armband after regular captain Cheng Jin was substituted while Andy Russell played as captain for the whole game.
https://kitchee.com/index.php?page=news&filter=detail&news_type=ClubNews&id=944 KITCHEE RESHUFFLES KEY COACHING POSITIONS TEMPORARILY AFTER ACL 2021 SUCCESS The Club expanded the coaching team immediately after ACL 2021, with each member taking on more refined responsibilities focusing in improving young players. To this end, Alex Chu Chi-kwong, Head Coach of Kitchee First Team, will temporarily step down from the First Team and return to his original position as Director of Football until the start of ACL 2022 with a strict focus on developing individual training programmes for the Club’s young players so that they may be better-equipped for the upcoming ACL competitions. Meanwhile, Kim Dong-jin, Assistant Coach of First Team, has been named the Interim Head Coach for Kitchee in the Hong Kong Premier League for the coming season. Kitchee will start the pre-season training on 11 August at the Jockey Club Kitchee Centre with players returning from their respective summer break and quarantine in the coming week. The team will have several pre-season friendlies to warm up in before the season begins on 18 September. ======================================================== Kitchee is once again sidelining Chu Chi-Kwong and giving the head coach job to someone else. They have done it so many times before. Well at least Kim Dong-Jin is a familiar face and maybe he knows what to do after being Chu's understudy for the past 2 years or so.
In this case maybe Kenneth Kwok Ka-Lok should takeover as the acting Hong Kong coach, he can help with getting the team together and training, in case Hong Kong has to play in the EAFF East Asia Cup.
https://today.line.me/hk/v2/article/YovXxL HKFA will invite HKFC to promote. Tuen Mun and North District have contacted former Happy Valley and Pegasus players with an eye to joining the Premier League.
They are hardly going to pose any threat to Kitchee or Lee Man. It is going to be a two horse race for the title.
From what I've seen before, HKFC will bring physicality, roughness, fouls, fights, and a lot of cussing - and not much else.
Kitchee Charities Match 11 Sept 2021 17:30 at Mongkok Stadium. Ticket price: HK$120 and HK$50 concession. Each club can use 4 foreigners. If the match ends in a draw after 90min then penalties will be taken.
That's fine. Newly promoted are rarely title contenders in any league in the world. Right now, the short term objective should be to ensure that there are no less than eight teams in the league. We'll have to see who is on their squad first. HKFC are different than every other club in Hong Kong in that their players are paying members of the club. Most of them are white collar professionals who work as bankers, accountants, investment brokers, teachers, etc. during the day and they see football as a recreational activity. The last time they went up, half of their players from the previous season decided that they didn't want to deal with the rigors of Premier League football. It's possible that players from last season's squad may choose to remain in the lower divisions because it works better for their schedule.
All that it does is fulfill the AFC's requirements for ACL/AFC Cup qualification. But the competition level itself is low. But for quality foreign players like Dejan Damjanovic, or even for the better local players it is not attractive. It may drive some of the better players to move to the Chinese Jia League.
When was the last time that the level has been anything other than low? Damjanovic signed with Kitchee because he wants to play in ACL. He made the decision to come here. He knew what he was getting into and he appears happy enough with that decision to renew with Kitchee. If our top local players want to move abroad where they can make money, then this is something to be celebrated, yes? We should want local players to use the local league as a stepping stone, but first, we need to ensure its survival. Having at least 8 teams in the league is one of those steps.
Eastern Long Lions have signed several players formerly of Happy Valley that include Chu Wai Kwan, Ng Ka Yeung, Mikael and Lam Lok Yin (younger brother of Lam Lok Kan) and Matt Lam who had previously played for KC Southern last season. Cristiano Cordeiro and Bae Ji Won formerly of Kitchee joins Roberto Losada's backroom staff. In addition, Losada had revealed that they have 3 unannounced Spanish players joining their team. In other news, CEO Jaoquin Tam stated that there are likely to have seven teams competing in the 2021/22 season although they are still hoping to have at least eight teams. Therefore, the place could be given to either HKFC, North District or Tuen Mun.
Former Happy Valley players Charlie Scott and Poon Pui Hin have signed for Kitchee SC. In other news, after North Korea's withdrawal from the AFC U23 qualifiers, Hong Kong who were originally in Group I, now shifted to Group J where they will now face Japan and Cambodia.