Hong Kong will never qualify for the World Cup unless the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) starts improvements now, coach Sebastiao Araujo said yesterday.
Araujo was speaking after finishing his last tournament with the Hong Kong team, the Dynasty Cup in Japan, from which he had returned with his players.
The three-month contracts of Araujo and his assistant Lula Paiva with the HKFA expire on Sunday and HKFA president Timothy Fok Tsun-ting will meet his officials today to decide the Brazilian coaches' future.
Araujo has a blueprint for rebuilding Hong Kong soccer which he will present to the HKFA.
'The HKFA should act now or they will never qualify for the World Cup,' said the former Brazilian assistant national coach. 'The Japan Football Association has been doing a lot in the past two decades to develop the sport and now their national team are going to the World Cup in France. The Koreans started much earlier and they have qualified for the World Cup five times.
'Both their football associations are very supportive to their national teams. They provide high-quality training facilities for the coaches and players, and arrange a lot of games for the teams.
'Hong Kong were the best team in Asia 20 years ago. But the HKFA have not done much to keep or improve the standard of Hong Kong soccer, while the other Asian countries have.' Araujo said there were a number of aspects which the HKFA should start to improve on immediately, including the education of players.
