Hong Kong remained without a point and rooted to the bottom of the East Asian Championship after they lost 2-0 to South Korea in Seoul on Friday.
But in a much more compact, disciplined and pragmatic display than they served up in losing 6-1 to Japan three days earlier, the city team gave their passionate travelling supporters reason to believe ahead of next Tuesday’s winnable clash with China.
Even if that optimism might be dimmed by news that some of the Hong Kong players who ply their trade in China could be recalled by their clubs in the next few days.
“We’re not sure what’s coming, we wanted to get this game out of the way first, then regroup,” Ashley Westwood, the head coach, said. “Tomorrow, we’ll assess what we’ve got, and we’ll have a competitive side, regardless.
“We would like consistency. If our players are recalled, then surely China’s players will be too, otherwise there’s a bit of an injustice there.”
For Korea, this was a second successive competition victory and 16th unbeaten match in a row, after they swatted aside the Chinese 3-0 on Monday.
