2024-01-12 15:09:25
[Sports in Doha]Hong Kong football team will play in the first Asian Cup finals match in 55 years the day after tomorrow (14th), facing the United Arab Emirates, which is ranked 64th in the world. The team resumed training at Doha University this afternoon. However, Elio, Zuliano and Xie Jiaqiang did not train with the team. Head coach Andersen revealed that he was still considering whether to replace players before the game, and explained that the reason for recalling Tony Hsieh was because the other backbone options were unable to play, but the opponent’s condition still did not meet the requirements.
Since arriving in Doha last Friday, the Hong Kong football team has been training at Doha University for several days. They also played a practice match with Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, and the result was a net loss of two goals. After a day off on Thursday, the team resumed training at Doha University this afternoon to prepare for the historic battle against the United Arab Emirates the day after tomorrow.
The team arrived at the training ground at about 3:30 and immediately entered the stadium to start training. However, there were only 24 players with the team today. Elio and Zulliano only resumed training in the hotel. It was seen at the scene that many players who were injured earlier, including Ru Zinan, Huang Wei and Lawrence, were all fine and all participated in the team match for about half an hour. However, “26th man” Tony Hsieh only trained alone with the fitness coach on the sidelines after the warm-up. During the team competition, Lin Yanyan had to take his place as a guest player.
Anderson
Tony Tse
After the practice, head coach Anderson specifically greeted the Hong Kong media present one by one, and revealed that after days of hard training and high-intensity friendly matches, the three of them were indeed injured, but fortunately there were still 23 healthy players on the field: “First The situation in the game (group stage) still needs to be observed and the opinions of the medical team must be followed. The training intensity has been specially increased in the past few days, so there are opportunities for different things to happen every day. For example, Everton was knocked down today.” Hsieh Ka-keung, who was selected as a by-election, did not play in the three friendly matches. Anderson described that the opponent has not returned to the state the team hoped for, and pointed out that he has different injuries: “Sean had an ankle injury when he arrived and rested for one day. After resuming exercise, my thigh muscles were injured, so I still have to practice alone until now.”
Anderson said that he recalled Tse Ka-keung because he had no other choice. Among them, Leong Nok-hang, Russell, Yu Weilian and Feng Qingye were all unable to join the team due to injuries or withdrawal from the Hong Kong team: “Sean qualified with us in India. He was a member of the team before leaving Hong Kong. Our best defender, so we called him back this time.” However, Anderson also admitted that since Elio and Tony Hsieh have not yet recovered, they are considering making the final roster at the last minute, six hours before Sunday’s start. Transfers still depend on available candidates.
Zhou Yuande (middle)
In the absence of the two backbones, Zhou Yuande, who only got a few minutes of playing time outside the World Cup against Iran before the training camp, became the “biggest beneficiary.” He came in as a substitute for the injured Elio in the match against China, and was selected to play in the next two practice games. Anderson described Zhou Yuande’s great progress in the past few weeks of training: “He has speed and strength, and has gathered many of the conditions we need. He is one of the most improved players. His performance in these games has also been very good, and he definitely has a chance.” It can be the main choice.”
Zhou Yuande bluntly said that when he was called up for the preliminary round, he still had little chance of getting a plane ticket to Doha, so he demonstrated his quality every day to prove his reliability: “Fortunately, several teammates were injured, and I seized the opportunity to get the coach.” If I have the chance to be elected, I will definitely do my best to achieve good results for Hong Kong.”
The Hong Kong football team performed relatively well in the three friendly matches. They first defeated China 2:1 and then lost to Tajikistan by the same score. Yesterday, they faced the World Cup final team Saudi Arabia and lost by only two goals. Anderson said that the results and process of the game have greatly increased the team’s confidence, especially yesterday when they faced Saudi Arabia, which plays a similar style to the United Arab Emirates. They were still able to deny their opponents a chance most of the time, which proves the results of the team’s training.
Pictures and text: Mai Jingzhi
This article is written by “Sportsroad“Originally published in”[Asian Cup・Direct Attack]Three Hong Kong football players are still injured and Anderson has not ruled out the final substitution before the game」
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