Kitchee became the first Hong Kong team ever to reach the AFC Champions League knock-out stage. An injury-time equaliser secured a 2-2 draw on Sunday with Vissel Kobe.
When Yoshinori Muto scored in the 87th minute to put Vissel 2-1 ahead, Kichee’s chance of progressing looked remote. But as they have done throughout the tournament Kitchee dug deep and Raul Baena scored with a header in the 91st minute to earn the point needed to progress.
image: AFP/Asian Football Federation
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There was plenty of good football, cracking goals and wonderful goal line clearances at the Twentieth Anniversary Hong Kong Soccer Sevens being held at the HK Football Club. bc was there to capture the action.
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Seven-a-side football might not have become an Olympic sport and global sensation like it’s rugby namesake, but the Hong Kong Soccer 7s – which celebrates it’s Twentieth Anniversary this year on 17-19 May – has become an important tournament for clubs and players across the globe.
The twentieth tournament sees newcomers Fulham and Portimonense face off in the group stage. The English and Portuguese sides will be joined in Group A by competition regulars West Ham United and local outfit HKFC Captain’s Select for the tournament.
Newcastle United begin the defence of their title, having beaten Rangers in the 2018 final, alongside Brighton & Hove Albion, current AFC Champions League holders Kashima Antlers from Japan and Hong Kong side Yau Yee League Select in Group C.
Six-time winners Aston Villa will go head-to-head with two-time champions Leicester City in Group B in a repeat of the 2017 final, with the duo joined by nine-time Hong Kong champions Kitchee and Singapore Cricket Club.
Finally, in Group D, Rangers return in search of their maiden title against newcomers Wolverhampton Wanderers, HKFA Red Dragons and Hong Kong Football Club in Group D.
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“The group that intrigues me the most is Group A in the Main tournament which sees West Ham, who are always a strong side, and two newcomers in Portimonense and Fulham, so who knows how strong they’ll be,” said HKFC Soccer Sevens Tournament Director Chris Plowman. “They’re going to be going up against our HKFC Captain’s Select team, so if there’s a group of death, I’m guessing that’s the one.
“Leicester and Villa in the same group will be interesting and Kitchee as a local side are always very strong. Singapore Cricket Club have got some tough matches on their hands.”
“It’s wonderful.” said Hong Kong national team coach and former Finland international Mixu Paatelainen “There’s history to this tournament and you can see there are big clubs from England taking part.” Mixu added “the tournament will be valuable for Hong Kong’s youngsters to play against hopefully the future stars of the Premier League.”
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In the Masters tournament, defending champions Discovery Bay have been paired in Group A with two-time winners Citi All Stars, last year’s runners-up Nottingham Forest Mobsters, HKFC Chairman’s Select and Singapore Cricket Club Masters.
In Group B, meanwhile, playonPROS will play competition regulars Wallsend Boys Club, and Hong Kong sides Eleven FC, HKFC Masters and Kowloon Cricket Club Veterans.
“It is a very exciting draw and you can see from the line-up it will be very fierce competition,” said Wayne Fong of sponsors Citi Hong Kong. “We like that the tournament changes every year and invites teams from all over the world to make it more diverse, allowing this tournament to be better and bigger.”
Soccer Sevens
Date: 17-19 May, 2019
Venue: HK Football Club
Tickets: $300 (Weekend pass), $160 (Day ticket), Free (Friday night)
More info:
17 May (Fri): 6 – 9pm; exhibition youth matches start at 4.45pm
18 May (Sat): 9am – 7.40pm
19 May (Sun): 9am – 6pm
Additional reporting and images: HKFA Soccer Sevens
Hong Kong international midfielder Ching Hang Chun has signed with Swansea City Ladies and will play in the Welsh Premier Women’s League for the three-time champions.
Chun’s transfer from Kitchee SC sees her become the first Hong Kong lady to play professionally in Europe. With 16 caps to her name since making her debut in 2013, Chun was an integral part of Hong Kong’s recent Asian Cup campaign, scoring in a 6-1 victory over Tajikistan.
“It’s a huge honour to be able to join Swansea,” said Chun after putting pen to paper. “The opportunity to play overseas, especially for one of the top teams in Wales, is something that does not happen easily. I am very grateful to everyone that has made this dream come true, especially Ian for giving me a chance.” Chun continued “I can’t wait to work hard, learn and hopefully give a challenge to the other girls.”
Kitchee became the first Hong Kong team to win a match in the AFC Champions League when in dramatic fashion with a goal in the 93 minute they beat Japan’s Kashiwa Reysol 1-0 at the Hong Kong Stadium.
Kitchee academy graduate Cheng Chin Lung, an 80th minute substitute, was the hero… Deep in stoppage time the 20 year-old picked up the ball on right side of the penalty area, moved the ball onto his left foot and curled a spectacular shot into the top left hand corner of the net. A goal worthy of an historic achievement.
“I always remember my father’s words: ‘If you do not shoot, you will never score,” said Cheng after the match. “I need to thank him, as he always encourages me to play better and to shoot more.”
Watch the match highlights here
Tse Long-hin scored the crucial penalty as Hong Kong won the 40th Hong Kong-Guangdong Cup 4-2 on penalties. After winning the first leg 2-0 at the HK Stadium on the 4 January, Hong Kong lost the second leg away as Guangdong reversed the score at home as they triumphed 2-0 in Guangzhou.
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With the match all square after normal time goalkeeper Douglas Yuen Ho-chun – who made several fine saves during the game – was the star in the penalty shoot-out saving twice as Hong Kong won 4-2 and regained the Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup for the first time in five years.
“The boys performed really well under the circumstances,” said interim Hong Kong coach Kenneth Kwok Ka-lok. “We are a young side and some of the players were suffering from injuries and even illness so that made it more difficult. But we had fire in our bellies and we handled the pressure, even in the penalty shootout where we held our own. We rose to the occasion. It wasn’t an easy thing to do.”
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Leicester City claimed the Soccer Sevens for a second time defeating defending champions Aston Villa 3-0 in Sunday’s final at Hong Kong Football Club.
The tournament’s leading scorer 18 year-old Josh Eppiah scored twice, while Joshou Gordon was also on target as Leicester produced a dominant performance to add to their 2013 title.
Eppiah’s brace took him to eight goals for the competition, edging Villa’s seven-goal Harry McKirdy for the top scorer accolade. The forward was also named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player to cap an excellent three days.
“I’m over the moon and proud of myself. I took my chances well but the team and the staff around me have helped,” said Eppiah, who also scored twice in the 3-1 quarter-final win over West Ham United and once in the semi-final victory against Glasgow Rangers.
“This whole tournament has been amazing and I’d love to come back next year because I’m still a youngster and have more years to come back and do the same as I did today,” Eppiah added. “The boys fought, held on, came back and in the final we were all up for it so we came out and gave it everything we have.”
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Six-time winners Villa had impressed on the way to the final defeating Italian debutants Cagliari Calcio 3-0 in the last eight and French newcomers Olympique Marseille in the semi-final.
But Leicester had also looked strong over the weekend after winning all five of their games, and captain Hamza Choudhury’s man-marking of McKirdy in the final proved key as the Foxes nullified Villa’s main threat before running out deserved winners.
Runners-up in the previous two edition, West Ham enjoyed success this time around by lifting the Shield following a 2-0 victory over Cagliari in the final. After being eliminated by Leicester in the Cup quarter-finals, the Hammers dropped down to the Shield and returned to form to beat local side HKFA U-23s in the semi-final, before Joe Powell and Jaanai Gordon netted in the final against Cagliari.
Tournament debutants Bayer Leverkusen were crowned Plate champions as goals from Julijan Popovic and Berkan Arik helped claim a 2-1 win over Wellington Phoenix in the final. The German side defeated hosts Hong Kong Football Club and Kashima Antlers in the quarter- and semi-finals before seeing off the New Zealanders.
Citi All Stars retained their Masters Tournament title after Jamie Cureton scored his second goal of the game at the death to clich a dramatic 3-2 victory over Wallsend Boys Club in the final.
The match-winning strike capped an excellent weekend for the former Norwich City forward, who claimed the top scorer award with nine goals before being named the Masters Tournament MVP.
“We’ve played well throughout the entire tournament and from the second half [in the final] I thought we performed really well and deserved to win it,” said Cureton. “It’s my job to score goals, I didn’t expect to get as many as nine, but I’m very pleased. I came three or four years ago and we didn’t do very well, so I’m hoping the nine goals and winning will get me an invite again next year.”
Tournament debutants, and major disappointments, playonPROS won the Masters Shield after Emile Heskey scored a sublime free-kick to claim a 3-2 victory over Discovery Bay in the final.
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Additional reporting and images: HKFA Soccer Sevens
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The anticipation and expectation levels were high, the sun was out – but in truth much of the football was poor and rather dull over the first couple of days of the Soccer Sevens. And it showed on Sunday with the public stand only about half-full for the finals…
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