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National goalkeeper Fan Chun-yip will be in the firing line again as his Hong Kong teammates face the might of Brazil in the Carlsberg Cup next month at Hong Kong Stadium. The 28-year-old Happy Valley goalkeeper played against Real Madrid and Liverpool in 2003 and gets a rare chance to go up against the boys from Brazil in front of another expected capacity crowd on February 9.

Are you looking forward to facing Brazil? It's going to be another great match and I will do my utmost against the world's best team. This is the biggest game for me and I will be proud to take my place on the Hong Kong team if I get selected again. Everybody is looking forward to watching Brazil in action. Hopefully, I will keep my fitness and give it my best shot. The atmosphere is going to be great.

Have you played in the Carlsberg Cup before? I have played for Hong Kong three times in this tournament and we have faced some fine teams, but Brazil will easily top anything we have faced before. It's rare that Hong Kong gets to play against the top five teams in the world. Everybody knows Brazil are number one in the world. My family will be watching the game too, including my 21/2-year old son, Kenji. Hopefully, we will be ready to face them.

Can we keep the score respectable? It's hard to say. Brazil are such a fine attacking side. If we play to our best, who knows what the score might be. Our aim is to improve our world ranking of 133. We'll probably lose, but the most important thing is that Hong Kong put up a good performance. It would be great if we score a goal against them. I'm sure the local fans will go wild if we manage that.

Has the team's confidence been boosted by the Interport Cup win? Definitely. I had actually recovered from a leg injury so I was not playing 100 per cent. We relaxed a bit during the first half, but once we scored our second goal, I knew we would retain our title. It was a great match and Hong Kong can be proud for playing so well.

What are your aims for this year? To play better and to help Happy Valley win as many trophies as possible.

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