Hong Kong ‘playing football the right way’, as head coach Westwood seeks third straight win
Head coach Ashley Westwood aiming to emulate Kim Pan-gon and win more than two successive matches when Hong Kong host Mauritius on Tuesday
Ashley Westwood said Hong Kong were “playing football the right way”, ahead of targeting a third straight win for the first time since 2016 when they host Mauritius on Tuesday.
A rocky start to his tenure, when the Englishman got off on the wrong foot with supporters and lost his opening fixture in Liechtenstein last month, has given way to a wave of optimism after an enterprising, exciting Hong Kong beat the Philippines 3-1 on Thursday.
The fans who took issue with the head coach early in his reign stayed back after the match at Hong Kong Stadium to chant his name, as well as to issue a loud and unified apology to Matt Orr for previous criticisms of the striker, who scored twice against the Philippines and has five goals from five international games.
Orr said the brickbats had been “motivation to keep working hard and proving people wrong”.
Westwood, meanwhile, promised Hong Kong “would not take anything for granted” when they face world No 178 team Mauritius at Mong Kok Stadium next week.
The win over 145th-ranked Philippines followed a 3-0 cruise against Cambodia last month. Kim Pan-gon was the last Hong Kong boss to win more than two straight games, when his side managed five victories on the spin between September and November 2016.
