To be honest, I would had called upon Ellison Tsang Yi Hang and Alex Jojo to the squad considering how well the two performed during the Asian Games. I wouldn't had expected Russell to make the squad considering his performance for Kitchee against Lion City Sailors during the AFC Champions League. As for Li Ngai Hoi, he was after all one of the players that stood out throughout the Asian Games and deservedly earned a spot in the squad. That is a good question. To be fair, I always thought that Shinichi works better as a left wing player and as for Sun, it will be interesting to see whether what Andersen had learned from the Asian Games could work for Sun within the senior team set up. As for the others, I wasn't too surprised that Huang Yang was left out considering he still hadn't had much first team opportunities with Kitchee so far and maybe it is time for someone else to take his place.
The sad fact is that the Hong Kong Asian Games team played 6 and lost 4, among the 4 losses, 3 times were to Uzbekistan. For this generation of players I do not believe they can improve much. They will never be able to play one touch or two touch football as well as a quicker game like South Korea or Japan. Players' abilities are set by the time they are about 18. Maybe they can improve their fitness but they will never improve their skills level now.
Bhutan should not be a problem for HKNT. If we don't progress then Jorn Andersen should be fired. Sun Ming-Him is probably better used as a forward. He seemed to create more trouble than help out when he defenses. He actually is better going forward. I will have Shinichi Chan as left back and Fernando as back up. Shinichi Chan is also quite wasteful when in attack. I went to the Kitchee vs Lion CIty Saiors game and I think most of Kitchee's players were fine actually, except Ogenyi Onazi who was downright pathetic. He was useless and he alone dragged down the entire team.
KC Southern District's Chen Ngo-Hin (on loan from Kitchee) scored two goals against Lee Man at the weekend, but KC Southern still lost 2-3. Anyway his first goal was quite a stunner.
I agree with you. But I guess our expectations will not be to compete with Japan or Korea in the near term, but rather that they at least give 100% effort every time, improve their fitness, and tactically improve where they can - pressing, defending, etc.
Key points from Andersen's SCMP interview: Hopeful that Juninho can join the HK team for November's matches Leung Nok Hang is out due to injury (not dropped due to form), hence Gerbig given a call up Huang Yang dropped due to lack of playing time with Kitchee Sun Ming Him will not be deployed at left back, he will compete directly with Shinichi Chan for the left wing position; seems to mean that Fernando will be the first choice left back, with Shinichi or Sun as the first choice left wing https://www.scmp.com/sport/football...-bhutan-world-cup?module=live&pgtype=homepage
In addition to Juninho, the article mentioned that he is also hoping that KC Southern's Stefan Pereira to join Hong Kong in the November fixtures too although that will depend on how long it will take for his HKSAR passport to be processed. I believe Lee Man's Dudu is another who is eligible for naturalisation and I wonder had there been any status on whether he had applied yet? Other points of interest in the article: Andersen hopes that "if the government can support young players in the clubs, from 12-18, they can receive more quality training. Then Hong Kong football will benefit. The best young talents leave Hong Kong at 19 or 20 and stop playing football, it is not good." "We have to give young players more quality training" Andersen said. "And many players here with me don't play for their clubs, in this low-level league/ There are lot of foreigners in the league taking chances away from our players." Andersen also "called for greater government investment in youth coaching and more chances in the Hong Kong Premier League for home-grown players, to capitalise on the under-23s' Asian Games' success. "I told the players how important this game is for the future of Hong Kong football," Andersen said. "We want to compete with these teams [potential group opponents] and not play friendlies against Macau and Chinese Taipei."
It's true a lot of young good players leave football as soon as they begin university/college. The big reason is that they cannot see a football career in front of them. A career that gives them good income so that when they finish playing they don't have to worry about the rest of their lives. HK's most recent youth successes were Dai Wai-Tsun and Tan Chun-Lok. Both of them went to UK when they were young to play football and study. HK football's stakeholders really ought to send more kids to the UK to learn football and study. Alternatively, establish a football academy in HK with UK methods and put all the potential young players in the academy, with an aim of one day sending them overseas to play. You need to aim as high as you can.
That reminds me of a time when Shinichi Chan, Ellison Tsang and Chen Ngo Hin were all sent to Spain for a youth internship programme set up by former Kitchee coach Josep Gombau in hopes of securing a loan spell with a Spanish team with only Shinichi being able to secure a spot with Real Union for one season. I do hope that more young Hong Kong players can take up the opportunity to try out overseas as I do believe this will benefit their development and progress. Other than that, I am curious to see who will be in the starting eleven during tomorrow's game.
One season in Spain when the player is 18 is no use. We need players to go to Europe at 8 or 10 and stay until they are 18 or older. That means a proper and complete full time education package.
That would of course be ideal, but that seems to be asking for too much... even just sending our youngsters over for 1 year would be better than the current situation (0 overseas training). We can see how even being abroad for a little bit has improved our players, of course the more the better, but realistically sending players over for a 1 year loan would be a big jump already. Anyways, what are we looking for tonight? If Everton can continue his fine club/country form, if Michael U can score his first goal, if Shinichi/Sun gets the starting spot?
I expect Hong Kong to get a result in today's game. Everton has been in fine goal scoring form at club level and I am eager to see what else Michael Udebuluzor can provide after he was one of the players who stood out last month.
HT: Hong Kong Vs Bhutan - 4:0 Debut goals from Michael Udebuluzor, Shinichi Chan and an own goal made by Bhutan gives Hong Kong the commanding lead.
Here are the highlights: Whilst it is great to see both Michael and Shinichi getting their first goals plus a bizarre own goal made by Bhutan, the second half felt like the performance of the players had lost all the momentum built from the first half where they struggled to score even further goals and create chances. For the second leg away in Bhutan on Tuesday, the team will be without Vas Nunez and Everton Camargo who is ruled out with injury. Jesse Yu Joy Yin and Wong Tsz Ho will come in as their replacements.
The players quite clearly ran out of gas in the second half. It was only after the introduction of 4 substitutes did they pick up the match pace again. Bhutan was able to create some good chances in the second half. Hopefully the 4 goals will be enough to see us through to the next round. All the players need to improve their fitness if they are to successfully carry out Jorn Andersen's high pressing strategy. But I doubt anything will change before the Asian Cup finals.
Then you will need to open a proper Football Academy where all the students (at least 100 of them) must maintain their football training with their academic studies everyday for something like 10 years. They have to do 10,000 hours of proper football training under a proper licensed coach before they are 18-20, so they better start young. Yes, it takes a lot of commitment and resources, but nobody ever said it would be easy and cheap. Otherwise Hong Kong football will drop further and further behind the world.
Full-Time: Hong Kong Vs Bhutan - 0:2 (On aggregate - 4:2) Despite Bhutan scoring two goals against Hong Kong in their home turf, it wasn't enough as Hong Kong advanced on to the second round of the 2026 World Cup/2027 Asian Cup qualifiers based on the score aggregate from the previous encounter. That said and taken in to consideration the conditions within Bhutan, this was not a good performance by the Hong Kong players.
Kitchee 1:2 Bangkok United Another ACL group match day, another 1-2 defeat for Kitchee. It looks like Kitchee has lost its chances of progressing to the last 16 stage. Charlie Scott and Tan Chun Lok played in midfield instead of Ornazi and they did okay. But it seems they still have no bite at the front. Mingazov was not his usual self and Jantzcher was hard working but did not seem to be CF material. The defense was shaky as usual.
Here is the 36-man preliminary squad named for the upcoming 2026 World Cup/2027 Asian Cup qualifiers: Goalkeepers LEUNG Hing Kit (BC Rangers), YAPP Hung Fai (Eastern), DA SILVA ARGOLO Paulo Cesar (Kitchee), TSE Ka Wing (Tai Po) Defenders LI Ngai Hoi (BC Rangers), LILLEY NUNEZ Vasudeva Das (Dalian Professional), WONG Tsz Ho (Eastern), Andrew James RUSSELL, AZEVEDO PEDREIRA Fernando Augusto, CHAN Shinichi, GERBIG Oliver Benjamin, GONCALVES Helio Jose De Souza, LAW Tsz Chun (Kitchee), TSUI Wang Kit, YU Wai Lim (Lee Man), YUE Tze Nam (Meizhou Hakka), LEUNG Nok Hang (Zhejiang FC) Midfielders LAM Hin Ting (BC Rangers), YU Jesse Joy Yin (Eastern), HUANG Yang, TAN Chun Lok (Kitchee), JU Yingzhi (Kwoon Chung Southern), NGAN Lok Fung, WONG Wai, WU Chun Ming (Lee Man), NGAN Cheuk Pan (Sham Shui Po), CHAN Siu Kwan Philip (Tai Po) Forwards LAU Chi Lok (BC Rangers), SUN Ming Him, WONG Ho Chun Anson (Eastern), UDEBULUZOR Michael Chibuikem (FC Ingolstadt 04), ORR Matthew Elliot Wing Kai (Guangxi Pingguo Haliao), POON Pui Hin (Kitchee), MAHAMA Awal (Kwoon Chung Southern), CAMARGO Everton, CHANG Hei Yin (Lee Man) Pretty much the same squad list from last month.
Hong Kong youngster Moses Wu is set to follow the footsteps of Michael Udebuluzor by joining German sixth division club FC Oberneuland in hopes of boosting his chances on representing the Hong Kong national football team in the future. https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/ne...-michael-udebuluzors-route-play-national-team
Andy Russell has retired from international football to focus on his Kitchee career and family. A shame, I loved his attitude - gave 150% every single time, and was not afraid to get his hands dirty and get physical. https://www.scmp.com/sport/football...w-russell-says-he?module=live&pgtype=homepage
Shame, but fair enough and respect Russell's decision. As for Kitchee, the club does have a number of aging players and are possibly at a point where they could hang their boots up either at the end of the season or within a few years and it would be wise if the club can start finding suitable replacements and get them prepped.
https://www.thestandard.com.hk/brea...ments-‘terrible’-artificial-turf-in-Hong-Kong Unfit and unsafe: Kitchee team captain laments ‘terrible’ artificial turf in Hong Kong Kitchee Women's Team Captain Vicky Chung Pui-ki viewed Hong Kong’s artificial turf as a safety issue, after two of the city’s women's football league matches over the past weekend were axed due to poor turf conditions. The two matches - Kitchee vs Shatin and Tai Po vs Chelsea FC Soccer School (HK) - originally slated to be played at Po Tsui Park in Tseung Kwan O on the night of November 4, were axed after match officials found conditions of the turf unsafe to proceed with the game. Uneven surfaces were found across the field, while part of the artificial turf was visibly peeling off. Following the inspection, match officials decided to cancel the first game between Kitchee and Shatin - 10 minutes ahead of the 9 pm kickoff time. Both teams having already arrived at the pitch were forced to pack their stuff and leave. Speaking in an interview, Chung said the poor turf conditions would certainly be a safety issue for the players. “If the players tripped over by the loose turf, they could be stepped on by other players,” she said. She also noted that the artificial football turfs opened to the public were badly maintained. “It seems that there was minimum maintenance for the artificial football turfs. After each session, there are no staff members repairing the pitch…seems like they are taking the approach that the teams are expected to use the pitch as long as there is an opening, regardless of its condition,” said Chung, adding that they often found the pitch in bad shape. According to official documents, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department carries out maintenance for the artificial football turf once every four to six weeks on average. When asked to comment on the case, Hong Kong Football Association Chief Pui Kwan-kay agreed that authorities should strengthen their maintenance of the pitches. “Now that people have raised concerns about the pitches’ maintenance, they should improve their management,” said Pui, adding that the association will maintain dialogue with the LCSD over the issue. ====================================================== LCSD really needs someone with more sports facility maintenance knowledge to come in and instructs its staff on how to do sports facilities maintenance.
Philip Lee went on a tirade after Rangers lost to Eastern. As usual, he blamed everybody except himself. https://www.hk01.com/即時體育/960551/高級組銀牌-流浪吞東方三蛋出局-李輝立稱將換帥-球員有怨言