Hong Kong find pride in defeat
A missed penalty by Lam Ka-wai allowed Vietnam to escape with a face-saving 2-1 victory over Hong Kong at Mongkok Stadium in an international friendly yesterday.
There was no disgrace in defeat, only heartache. For 70 wonderful minutes a fair-sized crowd - 2,983 - entertained the possibility of the home team pulling off a sensational surprise over the fancied visitors, who are 60 places above them in the Fifa world rankings.
However, two second-half goals got Vietnam off the hook after they trailed to a first-half goal by youngster Au Yeung Yiu-chung as Hong Kong failed to take their chances in a highly entertaining game.
The defeat ended head coach Ernie Merrick's clean slate since taking over the mantle in January. The tally stands at two wins and yesterday's loss but Merrick was heartened by his side's gutsy performance in which they matched Vietnam for a long time, only losing shape towards the end. 'This was an important performance. I think we learned a lot more losing 2-1 to Vietnam than beating Taiwan 5-1. We are heading in the right direction,' Merrick said.
If not for Lam's squandered opportunity - the penalty given after the Vietnamese goalkeeper had brought down Lo Kwan-yee when he had broken clear - Merrick and Hong Kong would have been even happier.
The Vietnamese players' relief at the end was apparent. They knew they had been in a battle and only their superior fitness and composure over the ball got them the win.
'A fair result would have been a draw,' said Vietnam's stand-in coach Phan Thanh Hung graciously. 'Hong Kong played very well, but at the end our players were still running.'
Merrick conceded fitness and a tendency to give the ball away too easily were two key areas Hong Kong will have to work on. 'We have to learn to keep possession and to keep focus for 90 minutes. It's a tough job,' Merrick said. 'But their higher level of fitness affected us in the last 20 minutes. Yet we should have caught them on the break several times and should have scored.'
Forward Godfred Karikari was one of the most wasteful. He had a golden chance midway through the second half when he rounded the keeper but failed to keep his footing.
Hong Kong will reflect on a game where they squandered a number of chances after taking a surprise lead minutes before half-time when Au Yeung hammered in a powerful shot from the edge of the box.
It was his only high point, being another player who conceded possession too easily.
Nguyen Van Quyet equalised midway through the second half when a failed clearance saw the ball bounce kindly into his path and he shot from close range. A couple of minutes later Vietnam took the lead when Nguyen Trong Hoang found himself unmarked at the edge of the area to coolly slot past Hong Kong goalie Yapp Hung-fai.
Hong Kong gamely soldiered on and missed a couple of further chances before the golden opportunity fell Lam's way.
'It is not easy to step up and take a penalty under pressure,' said Merrick in defence of the midfielder, who had an otherwise good game.
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Vietnam's Fifa world ranking, 60 places above Hong Kong
