Hong Kong's final Asian Games warmup match ended in a 5-0 walloping yesterday - but coach Sebastiao Araujo was all smiles after watching his team's one-sided defeat.
The experienced coach could only watch from the touch-lines as a makeshift League XI team ran rings around his young squad from start to finish in the Siu Sai Wan Stadium encounter.
But Araujo brushed off suggestions that the rout would be bad for team morale with Hong Kong's opening Asian Games match less than one week away.
'I'm not worrying about that. If I was worried about the team's confidence I would have organised a match against a Second Division team,' Araujo said.
'The result wasn't important today.
'I wanted the boys to get experience playing against physically strong and skilful opposition and that's what they got.' Ever keen to accentuate the positive, Araujo said he had been pleased with the way Hong Kong had managed to hold on to possession for periods of the match.