Hong Kong plans to send under-23s squad to EAFF Championship in July, with best players needed for Asian Cup and AFC Champions League
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Hong Kong are planning to send a young squad of under-23 players to the four-team EAFF Championship in July because of a hectic schedule at both club and international levels.
The city made it to the top level international tournament of the East Asia region after their major rivals North Korea showed little interest in the event, which features three regular nations – Japan, China and South Korea.
No qualification matches took place for this edition because of the pandemic, with Hong Kong assigned by competition officials to be the fourth team in the tournament.
“The senior [representative] team is now focusing on 2023 Asian Cup qualification and the three major clubs also have commitments in regional club tournaments soon,” said Football Association chairman Pui Kwan-kay.
“In view of the hectic schedule, we would like to send players mainly from the under-23 squad to the EAFF championship. After all, we understand the three other participating teams are also planning to send young players.