The Football Association of Hong Kong, China

Ashley Westwood plays down Hong Kong’s history shot, but promises more from ‘growing’ team

Hong Kong will clash with Guam on Tuesday night for the right to play at the 2025 EAFF finals in South Korea

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A late goal by substitute Tsui Wang-kit (centre) made Ashley Westwood the first Hong Kong manager since Kim Pan-gon in 2016 to have won five consecutive matches. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 10:00am, 16 Dec 2024

Ashley Westwood has promised that his increasingly resilient Hong Kong team will continue to improve, as the head coach prepares for a shot at history in Tuesday’s East Asian Football Federation Championship (EAFF) qualifying final against Guam.

Drawing 1-1 with three minutes remaining, Hong Kong had flirted with the EAFF exit door in Sunday’s must-win clash with Chinese Taipei. However, Tsui Wang-kit headed home from a corner to secure the 2-1 victory that Westwood cited as evidence “we are starting to grow as a team”.

“Sometimes we win through playing good football, sometimes we win by scoring from a set-piece and being physical,” Westwood said.

“It was nice that we won through a different dimension … and showed real character.”

Westwood is the first Hong Kong manager since Kim Pan-gon in 2016 to have won five consecutive matches. Beat Guam at Hong Kong Stadium on Tuesday, in a match that will decide which side goes to the 2025 EAFF finals in South Korea, and the Englishman will match Kwok Ka-ming’s six successive victories from 1985.

The odds are stacked in Hong Kong’s favour. Guam’s 2-1 win over Macau on Saturday to reach this stage was their first in a competitive fixture since June 2019. Ranked world No 203, they sit 47 places below Hong Kong in the Fifa table.