Hong Kong Stadium hosts the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament every year at the beginning of April. The stadium is booked up in advance in order to prepare.
Lee Man's Dudu finally obtained his HKSAR passport which means he is now eligible to play for the Hong Kong national football team.
I know that Bleda has been out of action from injury since the start of the season and I do hope he has recovered well enough to get games for his club. In other news, there had been speculation that Oliver Gerbig could be set to join for Henan FC of the Chinese Super League.
Jorn Andersen's suggestions to improve the standard and quality of Hong Kong club football: Dividing the league in to champion/relegation group. Minimum number of U22 players within the starting XI. Fewer foreign players allowed. Axing one of the three competition cups. https://www.scmp.com/sport/football...-kong-football-boss-wish-list-raise-standards What is everyone's thoughts on Andersen's suggestions?
Looks like Oliver Gerbig is joining Chinese Super League side Henan. In addition, Eastern head coach Roberto Losada confirmed that Sun Ming Him is looking to be transferred over to a Chinese Super League club.
Matt Orr was unveiled as a new signing for newly promoted Chinese Super League club Shenzhen Peng City FC (formerly known as Sichuan Juniu.) In other news, Alex Dujardin (younger brother of Remi) departed from the HK U23 club in which he is expected to follow the footsteps of fellow Hong Kong players to sign for a Chinese club. Also, it is speculated that Sun Ming Him is in talks to join Chinese Super League side Cangzhou Mighty Lions.
Here is the preliminary squad named for the upcoming fixtures for the 2026 World Cup/2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers: Lee Man's newly naturalised Luis Eduardo Chebel Klein Nunes aka Dudu earned his first call up whilst Leon Jones earned a recall having last being named for the AFC Asian Cup preliminary squad.
With Sun Ming Him along with Oliver Gerbig and Matt Orr joining the ranks of Leung Nok Hang and Yue Tsz Nam with Chinese Super League clubs whilst Vas Nunez, Clement Benhaddouche and Alex Dujardin all playing within the Chinese Division One league, that makes a total of 8 (could be 9 depending on Alex Akande's status) HK players within the Chinese leagues. I really do hope that more HK players could consider taking the opportunity to play their trade overseas.
I think soon someone will put the finances in place to set up a CSL or Chinese Division One club based in Hong Kong. This is not a rumour just my imagination.
You make it sound like they have the opportunity to, but they choose not to. The only example of this that I can think of is Li Ngai-hoi. Going overseas depends on a lot of factors, like clubs noticing you, agents (acting as intermediaries) reaching out to you, you hiring your own agent and of course, clubs agreeing to sell you. Shinichi was rumoured to go to Wuhan, but it fell through. Was it because he didn't want to? No, it was likely between Kitchee and Wuhan.
Sham Shui Po SA finally bagged their first three points of the 2023/24 Hong Kong Premier League as they stunned Rangers with Nicholas Benavides scoring his first ever hat-trick that lifts the club out of the bottom.
Final 24-man squad named for the double header home and away ties against Uzbekistan: Goalkeepers: YAPP Hung Fai (Eastern), NG Wai Him (Kwoon Chung Southern), TSE Ka Wing (Tai Po) Defenders: SUN Ming Him (Cangzhou Mighty Lions), Leon JONES, WONG Tsz Ho (Eastern), Oliver Benjamin GERBIG (Henan FC), GONCALVES Helio Jose De Souza, LAW Tsz Chun (Kitchee), LI Ngai Hoi, TSUI Wang Kit (Lee Man), YUE Tze Nam (Meizhou Hakka) Midfielders: LAM Hin Ting (BC Rangers), YU Jesse Joy Yin (Eastern), TAN Chun Lok (Kitchee), CHANG Hei Yin, WU Chun Ming (Lee Man), CHAN Siu Kwan Philip (Tai Po) Forwards: Michael Chibuikem UDEBULUZOR (FC Ingolstadt 04), Soares Belitardo Junior WALTER, POON Pui Hin (Kitchee), Figueiredo Periera STEFAN (Kwoon Chung Southern), Everton CAMARGO (Lee Man), ORR Matthew Elliot Wing Kai (Shenzhen Peng City F.C.) Eastern's Leon Jones made it to the final 24 cut for the first time whilst Shinichi Chan, Leung Nok Hang, Mahama Awal, Ngan Lok Fung, Paulo Cesar and newly naturalised Dudu all miss out.
Actually, what happened to Wong Wai? He was not even on the preliminary list. And I'm very surprised Shinichi was dropped, he does not seem to be injured. I wonder if Jorn was lacking CB options and decided to take guys that could also fill in as CB such as Tsui WK, Leon Jones, Li NH etc?
I believe that Wong Wai sustained an injury prior to the preliminary selection. As for Shinichi, he recently recovered from an injury and whilst he did play for Kitchee during the two games, I don't think he is 100% fit enough to come in and represent the national team at this time. I could see the CB options will be between Helio, Gerbig, Jones or Li are likely choices.
Update to the national team: Resource Capital's Pong Cheuk Hei and Lee Man's Yu Wai Lim are both added in to the squad.
For further context, they are replacing injured GK Ng Wai Him and DF Law Tsz Chun. Glad to see Pong get some experience training with the senior squad, I think it is safe to say that Paulo has now been relegated as "4th option" and likely will never play for the HKNT again.
The Hong Kong Football Association hired former Brighton Hove & Albion academy coach John Morling as their new technical director in which he will oversee player development and football management. To be fair, I didn't think that neither Ng Wai Him nor Law Tsz Chun would both be ready in time for the fixtures due to injuries sustained during their HKPL matches. Chances of Pong making his international debut is quite slim, but he will gain experience training with the first team squad at least. As for Paulo, I could see him maybe play for another two more years before he will be at a stage where he may consider hanging his boots up and the same may also apply for Wang Zhenpeng. I think Kitchee will need to either give Ainikaer Maihemuti an opportunity to start and tested ( Tuscany Shek is another option even though it may be too soon for him to take the helm) or look in to the summer transfer window for a potential replacement. In addition, it looks like both Huang Yang and Ju Yingzhi (both of whom announced their international retirement) will be honoured during this Thursday's fixture.
I wouldn't be so sure about that. Andersen likes his keepers big and tall, and Paulo is definitely in that category (he's 6'3"). The only reason he wasn't called up is because he hasn't recovered from his knee injury. Has nothing to do with age, performance, or what not.
The away leg looks to be even tougher, with Helio (personal reasons), Everton (injury), and Leon Jones (injury) all missing out on the trip. I suppose Andersen will call up replacements but the CB position is looking awfully thin.
Results didn't quite go in to Jorn Andersen's way today. But without the likes of Helio, Everton and Leon Jones, the away trip is going to be a lot harder unless Andersen decides to consider further additional back-ups to call up.
Jordan Lam has been selected by Jorn Andersen to take Everton Carmango's place. Jorn Andersen said he actually wanted to select Awal but Awal did not answer his phone from 10pm to 12am. So he called Jordan Lam instead... Everton Carmango, Helio and Leon Jones have all dropped out from the squad that have departed to Uzbekistan vis Seoul this morning. The squad should reach Uzbekistan this evening.
For some reason RTHK does not have the match highlights available yet. So this is the full match. Having watch how Uzbekistan perform at the Asian Cup finals, I knew Hong Kong would be hard pressed to get a result against them. And so it proved. Without the experienced Helio at the back, I fear we may lose by a even bigger score in Uzbekistan next week. We could end up getting 0 points from this group.
I guess the flight departed at 09:00 this morning, so understandable that if Awal could not confirm his availability immediately, he would not make it... harsh, but I am happy that Jordan is getting another chance at the senior team, I felt that he has indeed been overlooked a bit (though his position is competitive). But seeing these 3 young troublemakers in the same photo worries me! Just kidding haha.
Jorn explains why he chose Matt Orr over Michael U, as per SCMP: Andersen said Matt Orr had won “a close race” with Udebuluzor for the striker’s jersey, but the teenager was in “better condition” than at the Asian Cup and in the reckoning to start next week. Udebuluzor plays in the fifth tier of German football for Ingolstadt 04’s second team, and was told some home truths by Andersen after a poor performance in Qatar. “He told me he has done a lot of work, along with [club] training,” Andersen said. “The level he is playing in Germany is not so high, but maybe it is OK for him. I feel better about his condition, but against Uzbekistan’s three [central] defenders, it is difficult to achieve something.”