Hong Kong coach Casemiro Mior can't remember the last time the Hong Kong League XI won a penalty shootout and the trend continued as the hosts bowed out of the Lunar New Year Cup feeling hard done once again.
Dominant for long periods against the Jamaica Olympic team, the curse of the penalty shootout continued to haunt the local squad as they went down 5-3 on penalties after being held to a 1-1 draw in normal play at Hong Kong Stadium.
Hong Kong will play Australia in the third-place match tomorrow. The Australians lost 2-0 to China on Sunday.
'We never really had much luck when it came down to penalties,' said Brazilian Mior. 'I remember during past years we lost penalty shootouts at least three or four times. We lost to the Czech Republic on penalties in 2000 and we couldn't beat the Japanese on penalties in another year.'
The Jamaicans absorbed the pressure for much of the game, but still managed to snatch a 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute through striker Fabian Taylor against the run of play. Keith Gumbs got the equaliser in the 79th minute, but the Jamaicans were spot-on in the penalty shoot-out, scoring all five of their spot kicks to win it 5-3 after Hong Kong's Fladimir Freitas had his saved.
'I don't know why we never win on penalties. We prepared well. Maybe it's psychological,' said Mior, who coaches South China.