Hong Kong suffered another reversal of fortune as they went down to Japan 5-1 at King's Park in last night's Super Cup for their third straight defeat in as many meetings with the Japanese.
The SAR were hoping to improve on their 4-3 and 7-3 reversals suffered to Japan during last year's Asian Games and September's Asia Cup respectively, but the Japanese proved too strong again despite Hong Kong's best efforts.
Playing a night after their 7-1 defeat by Great Britain, the SAR started the match well, but again wilted under pressure as Japan grabbed their first points in the four-team tournament. 'We were playing well at first but we lost our heads in the second half, especially during the last 10 minutes,' said Hong Kong captain Farooq Saeed. 'It's really all down to experience and we just have to play more international matches in order to improve. We need these kind of games.'
Hong Kong midfielder Arif Ali, who scored the Hong Kong's consolation goal, said the difference between the two sides was purely experience. 'We were in a bit of hurry looking for another goal after we scored at 3-1, but we gave too much room in the end and they capitalised on that,' said Ali.
Coach Mark Bailey said: 'The match was not too dissimilar from last night [against Great Britain] in that we competed hard for about 50 and 60 minutes, but gave away silly goals in the end.'
Japan coach Manabu Yamanaka said Hong Kong played well initially but his team finished strongly to easily clinch the points. 'We took time to settle down but we got stronger in the end,' he said.
