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Hong Kong’s Vas Nunez rescues his football dream after nightmare of losing club, with home debut in the books – finally
- Without a club after R&F folded in 2020, Nunez almost quit the game during pandemic to put food on table for his mum and siblings
- But the 27-year-old defender ‘soaked it all in’ as he finally made his home international debut during Monday’s clash with Thailand
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Standing on the pitch just before Hong Kong kicked off against Thailand in their international friendly on Monday night, Vas Nunez made sure he took a moment to “soak it all in”.
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The centre back was finally making his home debut for the city’s men’s side, and it had come against all the odds.
Now 27, Nunez was left in limbo five years ago as he waited for his Hong Kong passport. Born to a Mexican mother and an English father, he gave up his British and Mexican citizenship to play for Hong Kong at the 2019 Asian Games, but was briefly left stateless after a UK Home Office blunder.
Then, his Guangzhou-based Hong Kong Premier League club R&F dissolved in 2020 amid financial woes during the coronavirus pandemic.
Without a team to play for, nor a pay cheque arriving in his bank account, Nunez almost quit the game for good, nearly abandoning his childhood dream of pulling on the Hong Kong shirt.
“It was five months almost without a club,” he told the Post after Monday’s 1-0 loss to Thailand. “I was going through it with the Fifa lawyers and everything, trying to figure it out after losing everything.
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