Players don’t want to play for Hong Kong, new boss Jorn Andersen says
- City’s national soccer side preparing for first match of the Norwegian’s tenure, against Malaysia, but he has ‘headaches’ in attack and defence
- The friendly will help the former North Korea coach assess his options before the squad head to India for Asian Cup qualifiers
Faced with the “headache” of Hong Kong football’s notorious lack of firepower, Andersen is encountering difficulties in defence, too, ahead of a friendly against Malaysia this month and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifying campaign in India.
“When some players don’t want to play for the national team right now, my headache is bigger,” he said.
“The biggest problem now is not the strikers, but the defenders. We don’t have many defenders in Hong Kong. Three defenders from [mainland Chinese clubs], and Helio [Goncalves, of Kitchee], don’t want to play. Maybe our four best defenders don’t want to play for Hong Kong in these national team qualifiers, so that’s again a big headache for me.”
Asked whether attack remained a problem area, the former Norway striker replied: “That’s right. We don’t have so many good strikers in Hong Kong. That’s my headache. I have my ideas and I will try to do the best with the situation.
