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Coach confident squad will gain HKFA approval

New Hong Kong coach Sebastiao Pereira Araujo says he is confident that the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) selection committee will approve his squad on Thursday.

Araujo will submit his 25-player squad to HKFA general secretary Vincent Yuen this morning. Their first training session is scheduled for Friday afternoon at the Hong Kong Sports Institute.

The Brazilian failed to submit the list yesterday, as he only returned from the Asian Women's Championship in Guangzhou in the afternoon.

He was also making a few final squad changes after reviewing the Hong Kong team's video tapes of the past three years.

Araujo said yesterday he had been given enough freedom to choose his players.

'I came here with a clear mind. I don't care about the old Hong Kong squads. I select my own players, those that I believe are capable and competitive at international level,' said the 59-year-old former Brazilian assistant national coach.

'The only advice I listened to was from my assistant Lula Paiva. We have been given the freedom to choose the players we need.' Araujo, who refused to release the details of his squad, said the door was still open for other players.

'We watched the Senior Challenge Shield final and four league matches in the past week. Most of the 25 players we picked have played in those games,' he said. 'But there are two exceptions. These two players did not play because of minor injuries, but I still picked them after seeing their performance on the video tapes.

'However, other players still have their chances. We have not seen all the players yet. We are going to the forthcoming matches and, if there are players who are better than those we have selected, we will definitely bring them into the squad.' Araujo's other tasks include the Carlsberg Cup Lunar New Year Series on January 28 and 31, and March's Dynasty Cup in Yokohama, Japan, where Hong Kong have been invited to compete against Japan, South Korea and China in place of North Korea.

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