Bangladesh next up for Hong Kong
Forward Chu Siu-kei of Xiangxue Sun Hei and Kitchee defensive midfielder Liu Quankan have been dropped from the Hong Kong squad after the team lost their opening game to Qatar 3-0 in the Asian Cup group F qualifiers on Wednesday.
The 20-member squad leave today for their second qualifying match against Bangladesh. Hong Kong will play the south Asian country, possibly the weakest team in the group after they lost their first match 5-0 to Uzbekistan, at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Chu had made little impact when he was brought on as a second-half substitute in the Qatar match and his position has been taken by Shum Kwok-keung of Happy Valley, while Liu's place has been filled by Lo Chi-kwan of Sun Hei.
Second-choice goalkeeper Chan Ka-ki, who is struggling to overcome a leg injury, has also been dropped, but his absence will make little difference as Happy Valley's Fan Chun-yip is the side's number one choice.
Hong Kong coach Lai Sun-cheung, who was at the team's training session at Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground yesterday, said he would study the video tape of the match between Bangladesh and Uzbekistan before deciding what to do in the forthcoming match.
But the coach hinted that he would go for an all out attack against the south Asian country as Hong Kong need nothing less than a victory to revitalise their hopes after a disastrous home defeat by Qatar in their opening group match.
'The tape has been sent to our hotel in Dhaka and we will study it carefully when we arrive there tomorrow,' he said.
Gerard Ambassa Guy, who has been mainly used as a midfielder in recent games, will probably move up front to increase Hong Kong's firepower against Bangladesh. The Valley player scored in both friendly matches against Singapore and India.
