Hong Kong’s football team beat China for the first time in nearly 30 years in a friendly match in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Poon Pui-hin continued his terrific scoring form, netting twice in eight minutes shortly after half-time to earn Jorn Andersen’s team a 2-1 victory at Baniyas Stadium. Tan Long had opened the scoring for China after nine minutes.
The match was part of the Hong Kong national side’s preparations for the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar later this month. They have qualified for the continental finals for the first time since 1968.
It had been Poon who supplied the only goal in October when Hong Kong’s under-23s produced a dramatic victory over continental giants Iran at the Asian Games, and the forward made the decisive contribution again in the United Arab Emirates capital.
He came off the bench to level after 51 minutes, then turned the match on its head eight minutes later.
The match was an official Fifa fixture, but both teams’ football associations chose to stage it behind closed doors and limit information about the action.
Hong Kong fans will nevertheless rejoice after a first victory over China since 1995, when the city’s side won a penalty shoot-out in the now defunct Dynasty Cup.
You have to go back another decade, to May 1985, for the last time Hong Kong toppled China in a competitive game, a famous 2-1 triumph in a World Cup qualifier in Beijing.
Monday marked the latest step forward by Hong Kong under Andersen, who praised his players’ execution of the proactive style he has pushed them to adopt.
“They are doing it better,” he said. “I don’t have to motivate the team against China.”
The result provided a timely boost before Hong Kong kick off their Asian Cup campaign against United Arab Emirates on January 14.
