HK ready for Palestine
Hong Kong national coach Arie van der Zouwen believes the SAR World Cup squad will be ready to play Palestine on Sunday despite two defeats in their warm-up games, including a 6-0 thrashing by top Chinese side Dalian Shide.
'It may seem a bit unbelievable [losing to Dalian by that score] but I am reasonably confident we can do well. When we lost 6-0, we knew we would lose our second game [Hong Kong lost 2-1 to Chinese professional side Qingdao] but we did better in that one,' said Van der Zouwen.
'We could not start confident enough for our second game. It was very important we did better after we made a few substitutions,' he said.
The Dutchman said despite losing to a 'very good side' in Dalian, he was able to get a clearer picture as to 'which players were capable of playing at a higher level'.
'Some players couldn't cope playing at that level against Dalian. Some of these players are not ready for this level but against Palestine it will be all right.'
Van der Zouwen said his side were already down 2-0 after 12 minutes. He said 'things got worse' for Hong Kong after they made a few substitutions in the second half.
Meanwhile, SAR World Cup Group Three rivals Qatar have brought their own chef to ensure their food is not contaminated by performance-enhancing substances during their stay here.
'We have to make sure we all come out clean if our players are taken for doping tests. We want to control the food by ourselves. It doesn't mean we don't trust other people but something might happen by mistake,' said Qatar team manager Al-Sulaiti.
Qatar, favourites to win the group, showed they are taking the event seriously by arriving here a week prior to their first game against Malaysia at the Hong Kong Stadium on Sunday.
Qatar's Bosnian coach Dzemal Hadziabdic said: 'Our target is not to lose any of the games here but I'll not be satisfied with three draws.'
The Bosnian coach added he would not underestimate his opponents, recalling fellow Gulf nation Kuwait's 1-1 draw against minnows Singapore in the city state early this month.
'Everyone says we're the favourites, but we're the favourites only on paper,' said Hadziabdic.
'I've learned a good lesson. All the games are going to be tough especially the first one.'
