HKPL Lee Man 1:3 KC Southern District A surprise victory for KC Southern District away to one of the title favourites Lee Man. Lee Man coach Chan Hiu-Ming will have a lot of work to do.
Tai Po Vs Resources Capital - 1:2 Having drawn against Eastern in their last game, Tai Po could not keep the momentum as even though Cheng Tsz Sum scored, the club conceded goals from Wong Wai Kwok and star player Felipe Sa was enough to secure RCFC their first three points of the season. HKFC Vs Sham Shui Po SA - 1:0 Sham Shui Po SA's debut in the Hong Kong Premier League ended in a loss as the Hong Kong Football Club secured their first win courtesy of their new signing Paul Ngue who scored from the penalty spot after Tang Kong Haang's handball in the first half. HKFC could had gone two up in which Remi Depalmas and Robert Scott both missed golden opportunities. On the other hand, I felt that the Sham Shui Po players really need more time to gel together and to find their spark.
Brilliant comeback by Southern and Ng Wai Him's performance was brilliant in which I do believe he is going to be one to watch for the future of Hong Kong football.
AFC Cup 2022 East Zone Semi Finals - Eastern Long Lions Vs Sogdiana FC - 0:1 Despite losing a load of key players from Mikael and Fernando and even though Eastern fought valiantly throughout the match, the team were downed by a an 85th minute goal from Shokhruz Norkhonov to give the Uzbekistan club the win. Overall, Sogdiana were quite dominant in terms of possession throughout the match that gave Eastern limited opportunities to create chances despite Victor Bertemou and Wu Chun Ming's attempts on goal.
Never expected them to go through. I watched the second half and they never really threatened Sogdiana's goal. Good riddance.
64 years old Casemiro Mior has returned to Hong Kong football and will act as BC Rangers' technical consultant. Mior has won the "Coach of the Year" in the HK First Division League 3 times before.
As per Sean Tse's instagram, he is back in hotel quarantine in HK, meaning he is likely going to lead the boys out against Myanmar. No word on his club status, however.
Andersen should be naming his squad probably some time this week and it would make sense for Sean Tse to head back to Hong Kong in time for the friendly fixtures. But I am curious to see whether he is going to join another Hong Kong club since he still remains unattached and will need to find a club soon in order to maintain his match fitness in time for next year's Asian Cup finals. In addition, it will be interesting to see which players Andersen will name for the two friendlies although he will be without Sohgo Ichikawa and Tsang Yi Hang since they are both away on Under-20 duty.
I suppose there's no chance of our growing list of China-based players to make it? I would like to see Ng Wai Him make his debut if possible.
Local forums were reporting that he was hoping to land an ASEAN team after receiving his HKSAR passport. This makes him an AFC player, and there seems to be a belief that his experience (Man City youth team), playing style (tough tackling Englishman), physique (apparently he has the best upper body strength in the HKPL, was a top amateur boxer and has a 6'1 frame) would make him quite a catch. Perhaps due to Covid, or for whatever reason, it has not worked out that way.
Full-Time: AFC U-20 Qualifiers - Hong Kong Vs Vietnam - 1:5 The youngsters managed by Cheung Kin Fung suffered a heavy defeat against Vietnam even though Kitchee's Tsang Yi Hang scored from the penalty spot. Hong Kong only managed a few opportunities in which during the first half Adriel Chan squandered a big chance to score from Jeremy Tsang Lok To's cross. Overall, the youngsters need more inspiration to attack, create opportunities and work more on their marking and defending. I don't expect them to get a result against Indonesia, but maybe against Timor-Leste.
It just goes to show how poorly trained our youngsters are. The whole training/education system needs to be changed if we want any kind of success at this level. They need 10,000 hours of training before they are 18, as Ken Ng said. If we can't do that we are just wasting the time of these young men.
Full-Time: AFC U-20 Qualifiers - Hong Kong Vs Indonesia - 1:5 Same old story, same old result as Cheung Kin Fung's team once again suffered a heavy defeat against the hosts despite Chen Ngo Hin scoring from the penalty spot. With two losses, this meant that Hong Kong will not be able to qualify for the finals. The youngsters still have Timor-Leste to face in their final fixture in two days time in which after watching the two matches, I'm not entirely sure which way the result will go based upon their performance. Anyways on to the good news, the friendly fixtures against Myanmar got the green light to go ahead this month which will be the national team's first home international since 2019. At the same time, Head coach Jorn Andersen is set to name a preliminary squad on Sunday.
Full Time: AFC U20 Qualifiers: Hong Kong Vs Timor Leste - 1:2 The Hong Kong Under 20s team played their final fixture with a third consecutive and dismal loss against Timor Leste. Despite Sohgo Ichikawa's goal in the first half, the players were not able to find their rhythm in the second half where they conceded two goals that gave Timor Leste a shocking and surprising win over Hong Kong. There will be a load of questions raised about the entire performance of the U20's team. Where did it all went wrong, what needs to be changed and re-evaluated and were they provided the sufficient resources to get them prepared for the qualifiers? Hong Kong Premier League Kitchee Vs Sham Shui Po SA - 10:0 Kitchee's kick start their HKPL campaign with a convincing win where they scored a total of ten goals against newcomers Sham Shui Po FC. Poon Pui Hin, Charlie Scott and Dejan Damjanovic, Ruslan Mingazov, Law Tsz Chun, Mikael and Cheng Chin Lung all found the net. HKFC Vs RCFC - 1:1 RCFC had squandered an opportunity to take the lead in the first half after Felipe Sa's penalty was saved by HKFC goalkeeper Freddie Toomer. However it was the away team that scored first through Antoine Sahaghian before Felipe Sa made amends with a goal in the scored half to keep the scores tied.
A 25-man squad has been named for the two friendly international fixtures against Myanmar on the 21st and 24th: Eastern's Alex Jojo earns his first senior call up whilst Sean Tse and Chan Siu Kwan who remained unattached are also named.
Andersen remains loyal to the group that qualified for Asian Cup and it will take a lot for anyone to break into that group. Doesn't matter if Paulo Cesar is no longer a starter at Kitchee, doesn't matter if Tse and Philip are unattached, doesn't matter if Ngan, Wong Wai and Wong Tsz don't perform, etc.
Plus Khan, who has performed poorly for 7 consecutive caps. Surprised at Jojo's inclusion; but it got me thinking, we really are sorely lacking in the fullback department aren't we?
I'm quite surprised Jojo was named considering that he only rejoined Eastern after Yue Tsz Nam's departure. I'll be very honest, I'm actually quite surprised with several of Andersen's picks considering that they do raise questions regarding to their recent form and performance. There were several names that I did have in mind that I thought should had deserved to be called up based upon their performance ahead of those named in Andersen's list.
Cheung Kin-Fung should be fired. His U20 side has no shape and no rhythm. The players had very little idea what they were doing. He himself has no fire. I don't know how he got the job in the first place and he shouldn't be there anymore.
I would take Jojo over Wong Tsz. But Paulo and Wong Tsz Ho are 2 players I definitely want to call out. They have no business being anywhere near the HK squad.
Once Shinichi and Yue Tsz return to the fold, we'll be fine. There's also Law Tsz who can slide down to RB if and when Everton becomes eligible. I don't think the situation is that dire. I agree but unfortunately, he will emigrating to another country soon so his contract will expire before the HKFA has that opportunity.
This was also the same Cheung Kin Fung who led the U23 side last year which ended in a disasterous campaign with a shocking loss against Cambodia and a heavy loss against Japan during the AFC U23 qualifiers. In addition, I believe he also led the U19s 3 years ago in an invitational tournament where they lost all matches against Gibraltar, Chinese Taipei and Myanmar. Just like what you said, I don't really know how he was chosen to lead the U19s based upon his past results. The other problem with Cheung is that I felt he was tactically inept and had little idea on what system he wants to implement as well as what to do with with his players on the field. Also to add no Matt Orr too. It will be interesting to see whether any of the strikers named could perform well during the friendlies.
Despite the match being played behind closed doors, goals from Sun Ming Him and Law Tsz Chun gave Hong Kong a comfortable lead in the 1st half.