The Hong Kong Football Team has once again succeeded to book a spot in next year’s Asian Cup finals. This is the first time for 54 years, as the last time Hong Kong qualified was in 1968. The venue for the finals is yet to be decided following China’s withdrawal from hosting the event.
In an interview, two players said that the team was ecstatic, describing it as, “demonstrating fully the spirit of Hong Kong people.” Experts believe such success in major sports events will no doubt help to raise the hopes and morale of the Hong Kong people.
On the evening of June 14, 2022, the final match of Hong Kong’s Group D qualifying round was held in Kolkata, India. Although they lost (0-4) to the host India, with two wins and one loss from earlier matches, the six points accumulated is enough to keep Hong Kong ahead of the Philippines and qualify for next year’s Asian Cup Finals, as one of the best five second-place teams.
Before the game, the Philippines in Group B had already lost (0:4) to Palestine, ending its round with only four points. That put Hong Kong in a sure-win position to qualify, regardless of the outcome against India.
A Long Wait Comes to an End
The last time Hong Kong won a spot in the Asian Cup Finals was in 1968. After more than 50 years, they will be there again. No doubt, not only the fans become ecstatic after having been kept waiting for so long, even the players are overly excited too.Goalkeeper Yapp Hung Fai (葉鴻輝) admitted whole-heartedly during an interview in Thailand that even though he has represented Hong Kong for many years and has witnessed Hong Kong win gold in the 2009 East Asian Games, yet the result this time is even more precious. It is a great honour to have an unfulfilled ambition of many of his predecessors finally achieved, after so many years.
Yapp also revealed that the team encountered quite a number of issues, both before and after arriving in India, such as visa delays, local diet adaptation, sub-standard environmental hygiene condition and the likes. Many staff members and players were diagnosed with Covid-19 and felt unwell. According to the Hong Kong Football Association, a total of twelve professional players have tested positive and were being quarantined in Thailand. However, he also stressed that even when the team was under such adverse conditions, they still managed to achieve their goal of qualifying in the end. He also took the chance to encourage Hong Kong people saying that “As long as we have a common belief, together we can achieve a lot!”
Yapp also added that Jorn Andersen, the Norwegian head coach who took office just at the beginning of this year, is a person who appears cool but is indeed warm in his heart towards us. This is exactly what you will feel after knowing him for a while. He will talk to us on his own initiatives and use that understanding to plan the tactics afterwards according to what he feels to be the best for each player. Yapp appreciates, in particular, Anderson’s willingness of not adhering to the longstanding “play deep with counterattacks” tactics that had become so engraved in the team’s mind in the past. Instead, he adopted the modern “high pressing” game-plan currently very popular with foreign teams. He always encouraged us to start pressing forward nto the opponent’s half, so as to achieve more space for offensive play. This demonstrates Anderson’s courage, as well as his full trust in his players.
In Hong Kong’s second match against Cambodia, midfielder Philip Chan Siu Kwan (陳肇鈞) scored the third goal with a header for Hong Kong that sealed the victory. Chan said that the key to qualifying is that the team is very united. Although there were many problems in between, it finally paid off, and we surpassed all difficulties, and made all the fans in Hong Kong happy. He hopes that through this result, it can reflect the efforts put in by the players in recent months and can convince Hong Kong people that Hong Kong football still has hope.
Morale Boost for Hongkongers
On the social media, there are also a large number of Hong Kong people celebrating the success of the Hong Kong football team reaching the Asian Cup Finals.Ji Da (季達), an expert on China issues, told the Epoch Times: After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forcibly robed Hong Kong and Hong Kong people of their sense of belongings here, they often have no way to express their dissatisfaction with the CCP. To counter that they resort to sports events where they can pin their hopes on the local teams. The achievement of the Hong Kong football team this time is a great morale booster to them. This serves as a way to show that the people of Hong Kong have not collapsed, and the spirit of the Hong Kong people has not slackened. Such encouragements and words do not need to be spoken out, but good enough to have that felt in their hearts.
He added: Since the anti-Fugitive Offenders Amendment Bill movement in 2019, there were all sorts of actions in various events in Hong Kong during July, August, September, and November of that year. The protesters took those opportunities to show their displeasure towards the CCP by holding aloft banners, chanted slogans, or sang together to make their voice heard. Some chose to turn their backs to the stadium or held up pieces of paper with the word “BOO” when the Chinese national anthem was played. This achievement gives some hope to the Hong Kong people.
Another prominent Hong Kong success in between must be the one in July 2021. In the men’s foil individual competition at the Tokyo Olympics, Hong Kong athlete Edgar Cheung Ka Long (張家朗) not only made a historic final, but also won a historic gold medal. Hongkongers cheered and the social media exploded.
