AFC Asian Cup: cheers and tears as Hong Kong’s footballers reach end of road – ‘I would die for the team’

An emotional Yue Tze-nam says he wants to ‘play for this team for the next 10 years’ after Asian Cup displays show Hong Kong’s rising aspirations

Yue’s family are among the travelling supporters lending loud backing for the city’s players and coach Jorn Andersen – who is greeted with chants of ‘stay’

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Hong Kong fans show their support at the end of the loss to Palestine in Doha. Photo: AP

Published: 7:10pm, 24 Jan 2024Updated: 7:17pm, 24 Jan 2024

Yue Tze-nam stood with his deflated Hong Kong teammates, beneath their fiercely proud supporters, and dissolved into floods of tears.

The brilliant right-back sobbing uncontrollably into the chest of goalkeeper Yapp Hung-fai at Doha’s Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium will be an enduring image of a night when a line was drawn under the national team’s return to major tournament football.

Yue was one of eight players who began all three of Hong Kong’s AFC Asian Cup finals matches in Qatar. And the effort expended to go toe-to-toe with United Arab Emirates and Iran came back to bite Jorn Andersen’s team against Palestine on Tuesday, when defeat ended their hopes of reaching the last 16.

Those 500 travelling fans, members of Yue’s family among them, noisily hailed the progress of their side, leaving a number of players overcome with emotion.

Yue Tze-nam (far left) and his Hong Kong teammates come to terms with their defeat on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua

Yue’s voice was still unsteady when he stopped to talk two hours after the final whistle. The 25-year-old was the last of the Hong Kong players to emerge from the dressing room, and apologised for keeping journalists waiting.