Hong Kong can hold their own in Asia. That was the cry from players and officials after an own goal from Muangthong United captain Datsakorn Thonglao gifted the Hong Kong League XI victory in the third place play-off in the Lunar New Year Cup on Wednesday.
“We have proved we can match the best teams in Asia,” said Sun Hei midfielder Jose Diaz, overjoyed at beating a team who will play in the AFC Champions League this season.
“We wanted to show that Hong Kong football is good and we have done it. Hong Kong can get better,” he added after the home team, comprising mostly expatriates and the cream of the local league, held on for a contentious 1-0 victory at Hong Kong Stadium.
We wanted to show that Hong Kong football is good and we have done it. Hong Kong can get better
Coach Josep Gombau said: “This is a good result for the game in Hong Kong. To finish third in a tournament featuring some of the top teams in Asia is creditable. It will do a great deal of good for the players and for the game here.”
In the final, K-League side Busan IPark defeated newly promoted Chinese Super League team Shanghai East Asia 1-0 to be crowned champions. A left-foot shot from close range by Jose Silva Da Luz in the 35th minute was enough the seal the victory but the Koreans were indebted to goalie Lee Bun-young for pulling off several key saves.
The Hong Kong Football Association had hoped at least 6,000 paying fans would turn up so that the tournament, backed by sponsors China Mobile Satellite Communications, would break even. They didn’t get their wish. Only 4,079 paying fans passed through the turnstiles on Wednesday, leaving the aggregate number of fans on both days of the tournament around 2,000 short of the required 10,000 to break even.
Yet it was some consolation that the League XI won, a victory that, according to Gombau and Diaz, will be a shot in the arm for the progress of the game locally.
