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Paul McNamara

Scheduling the pre-tournament press conference less than five hours before the opening match did little to disabuse anyone of the impression that everybody involved in organising the inaugural Fifa Asean Cup is flying by the seat of their pants.
It all got too much for Vladica Grujic, the fiery Laos head coach, as the clock ticked 15 minutes beyond the scheduled 12.15pm start time.
“This is crazy, we’re playing this evening and my player [captain Bounphachan Bounkong] needs to have lunch,” Grujic said to nobody in particular.
The Serb’s team went on to beat Brunei 3-1, the hopefully well-fed Bounphachan netting the opener from the spot, while Myanmar, now under the charge of former Hong Kong coach Jorn Andersen, overcame an easy-on-the-eye Timor-Leste side 2-0 in the second match at a quiet Mong Kok Stadium.
When the talking finally started earlier in the day, after Fifa had agreed to the “commercial setting” for the media gathering at the Jockey Club HKFA Football Training Centre, it was Hong Kong coaches past and present, Andersen and Roberto Losada, who did most of the heavy lifting.
Andersen tipped Losada, who is in the line of some supporters’ fire after only two matches in charge, to “take Hong Kong to a new level in the coming years”.
Losada played down the exit of savvy technical director and close ally John Morling, who has left after 2½ years for a role with the ambitious United Arab Emirates FA, while “accepting the criticism” that has come his way.
Back in Hong Kong in an official capacity for the first time since May 2024, when he quit as city team boss for an offer he “simply couldn’t refuse” from Chinese club Yunnan Yukun, Andersen’s fingerprints are already all over his hustling, high-pressing Myanmar team.
Appointed in July after 1½ years out of the game, he masterminded a remarkable 4-1 away victory over world No 135 team the Philippines at the recent Asean Championship, where Myanmar, ranked No 158, also whacked Laos 7-2 but suffered narrow defeats by Malaysia and eventual runners-up Thailand.
“The main difference under him is that in every match we’re playing to win,” Lwin Moe Aung, the Myanmar midfielder, said. “His instructions are very clear.”

That month-long Asean competition finished only four weeks ago, which rather raises the question over the purpose of having this ill-thought-out version so soon afterwards.
India and China were mooted as guest teams for Division One, the eight-team competition being staged concurrently in Indonesia, but both decided they had better things to do: for India, that meant home friendlies with Panama, Brazil and Uruguay. China are playing Maldives, New Zealand, Palestine and Tajikistan.
Pakistan were hurriedly drafted into the top flight, despite boasting a world ranking of No 194 that is below all but 201st-ranked East Timor of the six Division Two sides.
Andersen, whose main gripe when in charge of Hong Kong was his minimal access to players he believed lost condition back with their clubs, and who adored coaching North Korea for two years because he could have his squad almost permanently in camp, embraced the opportunity for more football.
“We have two big tournaments in a short time, so it’s almost like being a club coach,” he said. “It’s really good for me and my players, although we are missing some because of injuries.”
Losada said: “We want more and more of this, and not only in the Fifa windows. You can test things and bring in players. Window to window is a long time; you don’t train often and it’s difficult.”
The group-stage draw, which appeared something of a movable feast over the months since the Fifa Asean Cup was first conceived, has served up the delicious prospect of Andersen managing against Hong Kong in the final. Myanmar face world No 176 Cambodia in their second group match on Sunday.
The coach who ended the city team’s 55-year wait to compete in a major tournament in 2023 when he led them to the Asian Cup finals, Andersen succinctly summed up the reign of his immediate predecessor, Ashley Westwood.
“Westwood came here and tried to qualify for the Asian Cup, then he disappeared,” the Norwegian said.
After Hong Kong fatally lost a home qualifier against Singapore last November, the baton passed to Losada, initially on interim terms, before his appointment was made permanent in June.
“I’m very happy my friend Chino [Losada] has come in,” Andersen said, revealing that he had asked Losada to assist him in Yunnan.
“He’s one of the best coaches who has ever worked in Hong Kong, and I think he can take the team to a new level in the coming years.”
Losada returned: “[Andersen] is fantastic, and also a friend. We share thoughts, I learned a lot from him, and I’m still learning from him.”
Implementing an in-your-face, fearless and energetic brand of football, Andersen quickly gained favour with Hong Kong supporters.
Losada has endured a more complicated start. He was on a hiding to nothing in the Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup, FWD Insurance Chinese New Year Cup, and a meaningless Asian Cup qualifier in India, while the Football Association of Hong Kong, China (HKFA) dawdled over naming their manager, rifling through more than 300 applications during a supposed worldwide hunt for a coach with “a global vision and professional competence”.
Eventually given the gig, Losada began with a laboured 2-0 victory over Mongolia, then was the object of fans’ censure following a poor 2-0 defeat in Cambodia.
“Because of the media, the internet, Facebook and so on, [the criticism] multiplies tenfold,” Losada said.
“It’s very easy to criticise. But I accept it, it’s my responsibility, and I take it. But I’m not going to stop working. We’re fighting for one objective. I’m going to keep going with that and try our best to achieve this in the coming one or two years.”
Currently down at world No 155, Hong Kong face Laos, ranked No 186, on Sunday, then meet No 194 side Brunei three days later, both at Kai Tak Stadium. The final is on October 3.
Brunei defender Wafi Aminuddin, whose elder brother Afi played at the back when Andersen’s Hong Kong massacred Brunei 10-0 three years ago, said: “We’ve come with a lot of new faces, but some played in that match. They want to feel better and, hopefully, get revenge and win.”
Philip Chan Siu-kwan, the Hong Kong midfielder who scored twice in that double-figure victory, said: “They’ve improved and the ranking is only a reference.
“Our motivation is to give the fans what they want, which is to see Hong Kong play beautiful football and get to the final. We’ll try to show the best side of ourselves.”
Losada, who will have his Asian Games contingent available after the city under-23s’ group-stage exit in Japan, said that losing Morling had “not affected us at all”.
Still, he acknowledged that “it’s been a big loss because he knew how Hong Kong worked and had good links with everybody”.
“We wish him all the best and we’ll stay in contact,” Losada added.
The HKFA have not officially announced the Englishman’s departure, but they advertised on their website for a new technical director, closing applications on September 20.
After they saw off admirably stubborn Brunei, Laos’s clash with Hong Kong is already looking like a straight shoot-out to reach the final.
Xayasith Singsavang and Bounxai Xernvanglieng added to Bounphachan’s fourth-minute penalty, either side of a strike from Brunei midfielder Haziq Naqiuddin Syamra.
A pair of powerful headers from Win Naing Tun and captain Than Paing were responsible for Myanmar’s winning start.


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Bounphachan Bounkong tussles with Brunei midfielder Alinur Rashimi Jufri. Photo: Elson Li

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Sport

Football

Despite tournament’s shaky foundations, Hong Kong’s past and present coaches welcome opportunity for more football


Despite tournament’s shaky foundations, Hong Kong’s past and present coaches welcome opportunity for more football.


Roberto Losada

Ashley Westwood

Fifa

Hong Kong hero back in town for Fifa Asean Cup, as current coach plays down key-man exit

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Despite tournament’s shaky foundations, Hong Kong’s past and present coaches welcome opportunity for more football

Despite tournament’s shaky foundations, Hong Kong’s past and present coaches welcome opportunity for more football