Happy Valley found little to smile about at yesterday's Choi Fung Hong Senior Shield draw, with several players facing just two days to recover from a World Cup qualifier and a 20-hour flight before their first match.
Having thrashed East Timor 11-3 on aggregate in the first round of 2010 World Cup qualifiers, Hong Kong play Turkmenistan in the next stage, with the opening away tie to be held on November 18. The five Valley players who played against the Timorese are expected to play Turkmenistan.
Hong Kong are scheduled to leave for the central Asian republic four days before the match and return on November 19 - via Frankfurt because no direct flights are available. Valley will then take on WoFoo Tai Po on November 22 in the Senior Shield.
'We will be losing many of our key players in this period because of the international duty and it definitely poses a lot of difficulties for our training,' said Valley manager Shek Kam-wah. 'The Hong Kong players will be very tired after they arrive home after a 20-hour flight from Turkmenistan. I don't think it is fair to ask them to play so soon after the trip.'
Brian Leung Hung-tak, chairman of the HKFA, dismissed Shek's complaint, saying: 'It is common practice to give players a two-day rest before their next match. Valley players will get more and they should have no complaints.'
