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On paper, should three teams advance from Group C at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup then chances are it will be either Palestine or Hong Kong. As such, the thinking for all involved in The Dragons set up is to find a way to escape from the first two matches with limited damage and get a win over Palestine to possibly advance to the knockout stages.
Is a place in the knockout stages a realistic target for Hong Kong? Or are they in Qatar only to make up the numbers? And what sort of problems can they cause Palestine when the two teams meet on January 23rd?
Recent Results:
Manager: Jørn Andersen.
The turning point for Hong Kong’s fortunes on the pitch has to be connected to the appointment of the former Mainz 05 manager.
Andersen has mostly worked as an assistant and youth team coach in his career but when given the chance to lead squads he has delivered. First, was his ability to get Mainz 05 promoted to the Bundesliga 15 years ago. He had to wait seven years to get another shot at a top job and it came in the most random of places and circumstances.
Andersen became the first foreign manager to take charge of North Korea and successfully guided them to qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. That remains the team’s sole successful qualification through the stand alone qualifying process with the team having participated in 2015 and 2011 thanks to winning the AFC Challenge Cup.
Andersen left the post after qualifying and his absence showed at the finals with the Koreans becoming cannon fodder for the other teams in their group.
The Norwegian gambled once again with his career and reputation by taking on the Hong Kong job but he has managed to guide the team to their first AFC Asian Cup finals since 1968.
His other crowning achievement while in the role is the semi final finish achieved with the U23 squad at the Asian Games this past fall. That result was aided by automatic qualification from the group after the withdrawal of Syria and Afghanistan but he and the rest of the Hong Kong team will be buoyed by the fact that they dispatched of Palestine and Iran by identical 1-0 scorelines in the knockout stages.
Style of Play:
Andersen employs a 4-3-3 although he has gone 3-4-3 in matches where he feels Hong Kong are outmatched. The latter formation did not engender much success against Iran in World Cup qualification so it remains to be seen if the team uses it in Qatar.
Far from playing bunkerball, Andersen likes his sides to press and take initiative- Hong Kong can cause problems for teams that are flat footed. That said, their gung-ho attitude usually leads to them being exposed on the counter.
Defensively, the team is weak and qualified by rolling the dice and hoping to outscore the opposition. That happened in their first two games as they eked out a 2-1 win over Afghanistan and swept Cambodia aside 3-0.
The final match against India resulted in a 4-0 drubbing.
Squad:
Key Players:
Since qualifying for Asia’s showpiece event. Jorn Andersen has been looking for ways to boost the side’s quality especially in attack. While Matty Orr is very much the Golden Boy of this team he now can count on support from three naturalized players. Brazilian duo Juninho (33) and Stefan Perreira (35) have been handed citizenship joining the likes of Everton Camargo who has scored four times in four appearances for the side.
The presence of three naturalized aging Braziliansis complemented by Michael Udebuluzor. The Ingolstadt striker was born in Hong Kong while his father was playing professionally in the territory allowing him to claim citizenship following the renunciation of his Nigerian passport.
The hope for Andersen is that these names can provide the cutting edge in attack but with only 9 caps between the four players it remains to be seen how effective the new-look attack will be.
The real issue for Hong Kong is their defence. Two starters from their last World Cup qualifier against Turkmenistan have been dropped (Fernando and Lenung Nok Hang). Who will start alongside Vas Nuñez in the middle and at left back are very much open questions.
Final Take:
Jørn Andersen is playing the long game. He is under no pressure to get results at the Asian Cup and his squad features 11 players under the age of 25. The Norwegian has not abandoned the immediate task at hand including eight players over the age of 31 many of whom are projected to start.
Hong Kong has undoubtedly improved over the past two years even if the win/loss count does not necessarily reflect that but with the glaring issues at the back they will be vulnerable to transitions against all three opponents. If Hong Kong can keep the score down and maybe score a goal or two that should be considered a success
