China captain Zheng Zhi called me a ‘dog’, claims Hong Kong hero Yapp Hung-fai as World Cup draw turns nasty

Hong Kong hero Yapp Hung-fai claimed he was called a “dog” by China captain Zheng Zhi during a thrilling 0-0 draw in their World Cup qualifier in Shenzhen on Thursday night.

Goalkeeper Yapp posted a photo on Instagram around midnight with a short paragraph: “We made it! Also, we, Hong Kong team intended to defend. You are mad at not winning the match and approached me to call me a dog. Asian Footballer of the Year, you have good skills, but you fail in terms of sportsmanship!”

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Chinese media confirmed with Yapp that the Asian Footballer of the Year mentioned was Zheng.

Zheng denied the allegation, telling mainland news portal sina.com: “I cursed him [Yapp]? It didn’t happen. I did spoke to him. I said: “Get up. Nobody touched you!””

Zheng accused the Hong Kong team of time wasting and Yapp of pretending to be injured. He said Yapp’s accusation was a joke. 

Yapp made countless saves to deny the overwhelming favourites and keep Hong Kong at the top of their World Cup qualifying group.

Hong Kong Football Association chairman Brian Leung Hung-tak said he was only made aware of the allegations when he appeared on RTHK on Friday morning. He said it was hard to verify the verbal conflict.