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Paul McNamara

Edgar Cardoso said Hong Kong football would rapidly develop if the city’s leading clubs joined the Chinese Super League.
The Portuguese coach has quietly parted the storm clouds that gathered over Kitchee last season, following his appointment as head coach. His team beat China League One side Guangxi Pingguo Haliao 4-1 in a mainland friendly last Saturday.
And the 41-year-old said playing mainland sides more regularly would be of great benefit to the city’s better teams.
“These opponents force us to be the best version of ourselves,” he said. “In order to develop Hong Kong football and local players, to compete in a more competitive championship would be a great idea.”
Cardoso also said his players were “in love with” the progressive, possession-hungry model he was instilling, after a “younger and more energetic” Kitchee made an encouraging start to this campaign.

“I will never give up on my methods, if you pay to watch a game, you deserve to be entertained,” added Cardoso, who previously coached youth teams at Benfica and Shakhtar Donetsk, either side of six years at Qatar’s pioneering Aspire Academy.
“Only if I am fired from 10 jobs will I think I need to be more clinical or direct. Kitchee give me fantastic, controlled conditions to deliver my work, sometimes to make mistakes and fix mistakes. My idea is to grow as a coach and to help the players grow, too.”
Cardoso said Kitchee delivered some of their best football in preseason, when they faced two strong Thai clubs, then hosted Atletico Madrid in a game where his players “were so f****** nervous for 10 minutes … but then gave me goosebumps with the way they played”.
His own playing dreams were extinguished when Lisbon giants Sporting CP let him go because his parents, who “did not have a sports background”, would organise weekend family trips at the expense of football.
He secured a sports science degree, then, from 2002, spent 12 years with Benfica, overseeing four cycles of players from under-eight through to under-10 before moving to take the same job in Qatar, where he was handsomely paid for his work.
Cardoso has always placed a premium on family life. He meticulously scoped out potential working destinations for schools, accommodation and transport, and is “in paradise” living in Tai Wai, close to Kitchee’s Sha Tin training headquarters, with his wife and young son.
There have been approaches from the United States, Africa, India and mainland China, before and during his time with Kitchee, all of which have been rejected.
“My wife joined me in Qatar after 10 months and, by then, I was already working with the under-18s,” Cardoso said.
Following a period as Qatar under-23 assistant manager, Cardoso “went back to Aspire and missed working with quality players”.
“Qatar’s infrastructure is No 1 in the world, but the quality and commitment of players is frustrating,” he said.

At Shakhtar, where he moved in 2020, Cardoso “fell in love with a beautiful country, and a top club and players”.
“If it were not for the war, I would still be in Ukraine,” he said.
Leading the club’s under-19s in the Uefa Youth League, Cardoso travelled with Shakhtar’s senior side for Uefa Champions League matches. For six months, he shadowed first-team training overseen by Roberto De Zerbi, who is now in charge of Marseille.
Cardoso was appointed Kitchee academy head in August 2023, after impressing owner Ken Ng Kin when advising the club in his previous consultancy role with Double Pass Group.
First-team coaching duties were quickly added to his remit, after a poor start to the 2023-24 season resulted in Kim Dong-jin replacing Alex Chu Chi-kwong as boss.
There was an initial uptick, but Kitchee unravelled after the winter shutdown. Two early year Sapling Cup matches were “a disaster”.
“From there it snowballed, and we didn’t have cohesion,” Cardoso said. “Finally, [league and FA Cup semi-final defeats] against Eastern [in May] destroyed our team and our belief.
“Because of the age of our squad, some were physically dropping towards the end.”
Cardoso was responsible for “about 50 per cent” of the summer recruitment that has left him with a more sprightly playing group.
Along with his football ideals, Cardoso’s leadership is founded on “honesty”.
“When a player doesn’t play, we explain the decision to him,” Cardoso said. “Sometimes, the players don’t like me, but I make decisions to try to win games, not to keep everyone happy.
“I am honest, so I can go home, be with my family and sleep in peace. Having everyone happy and winning games would be the perfect world, but it doesn’t exist in football.”


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Hong Kong’s best teams should play in Chinese Super League, Kitchee boss Cardoso says

Kitchee boss Edgar Cardoso with midfielder Aaron Rey after a match at Mong Kok Stadium. Photo: Kitchee SC

Kitchee boss Edgar Cardoso discusses tactics with defender Fernando. Photo: Kitchee SC

Kitchee boss Edgar Cardoso in discussion with coaching staff before a match at Mong Kong Stadium. Photo: Kitchee SC

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Sport

Football

Edgar Cardoso quietly steadying Kitchee ship following roles with European clubs Benfica and Shakhtar Donetsk


Edgar Cardoso quietly steadying Kitchee ship following roles with European clubs Benfica and Shakhtar Donetsk.


Chinese Super League

Kitchee SC

Hong Kong’s best teams should play in Chinese Super League, Kitchee boss Cardoso says

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Edgar Cardoso quietly steadying Kitchee ship following roles with European clubs Benfica and Shakhtar Donetsk

Edgar Cardoso quietly steadying Kitchee ship following roles with European clubs Benfica and Shakhtar Donetsk