Hong Kong team need support from clubs, says coach Kim Pan-gon
Hong Kong team coach Kim Pan-gon urged clubs to pledge their full support as the representative team face a hectic 2018 World Cup Asian zone qualifying schedule in the coming season.
Hong Kong team coach Kim Pan-gon urged clubs to pledge their full support as the representative team face a hectic 2018 World Cup Asian zone qualifying schedule in the coming season.
The series of eight qualifying matches will kick off in June with the last match to be played in March 2016.
"We need good preparation for the tournament and therefore more days will be required for the team members to get together before each match, and this cannot be done without the support from the clubs," said the coach. "The training plan still needs approval from the Technical and Playing Committee of the Football Association, but I will go down to the next Premier League club meeting to explain the situation and lobby their support."
They will be joined by the four best second-placed teams.
Kim said he would need more time than simply using the allocated Fifa playing dates for the preparations and was hopeful he could arrange to get nine days prior to the games.
"I have already given up the Hong Kong team regular training sessions to trade off for more preparation days for each match but this could not happen in the past. But since the World Cup qualifiers will be the most important tournament in the region, I don't want to see the team just have time to get together, fly and then play the match. This is not acceptable," he said.
Eastern defender Jean Kilama, who just received his Hong Kong passport, has been named in Kim's preliminary squad of 36 players.
