MACAU TEAMS rarely beat Hong Kong sides in any sport, so when the City University (CityU) football team suffered a 2-1 defeat in the former Portuguese colony last month, it left a nasty after-taste.
'We just didn't expect them to come out and be so aggressive - it was a very physical game,' said CityU captain Terry Yau Man-hon of the match against Associacao Do Desporto Universitario de Macau.
The CityU boys have a chance to put things right in the second leg of the Philips-sponsored Macau Challenge Cup at the Stanley Ho Sports Centre tomorrow.
Although they lost the first leg, a last-minute goal by 19-year-old forward Chung Kwong-hing means CityU have a valuable 'away-goal' (which counts as the 'tie-breaker' if CityU level the aggregate score with a 1-0 win tomorrow).
Kwong-hing's strike and the manner in which the team kept their heads despite sweltering conditions and the provocations of a hard-tackling home side gives CityU the confidence they need to win the Cup, said Yau.
'I think Macau played above themselves - they were really up for it, and it took us by surprise a little,' he said.