Two-goal Mac makes his point
SCOTTISH striker John MacDonald scored twice to send Kui Tan through to the quarter-finals of the Esso Hong Kong FA Cup with a 3-1 first-round victory over Sing Tao at Mongkok Stadium last night.
Glasgow-born MacDonald, who turned 33 this month, was brought to Hong Kong by Rangers only last month but was released before he had played a competitive match because the club said he was a midfield player, not a forward.
So he moved to Kui Tan and the goals followed him, with two in last night's plucky performance against a very disappointing Sing Tao side.
Kui Tan took the lead in the 24th minute with an own goal from Sing Tao defender Tam Ah-fook, who turned in a dangerous left-wing cross from Lau Ping-kwan.
MacDonald made it 2-0 in the 43rd minute when his long-range shot dipped over Sing Tao's reserve 'keeper, Cheng Wing-keung, and the same player added a third in the 72nd minute when he sent a delightful chip shot over a stranded Cheng after being put in the clear by another player Rangers allowed to leave, midfielder Steven Raynes.
Sing Tao, who will end the season empty-handed, pulled one back with a Chu Yue-tai penalty in the last minute but they had given up long before then.
MacDonald, who was playing his second game for Kui Tan, said: ''I must admit when I came over to Hong Kong from Scotland to play for Rangers and Rangers said I was not a striker, I was a midfielder, it really got my back up.
''I started with Glasgow Rangers and have played up front all my career. I would like to have been given a chance to prove to Rangers that I was a striker because I think I could have worked well with Dean Edwards.
''But Rangers let me go and I'm really glad I moved to Kui Tan. I think they like to play a bit more football and hopefully we can win the next round against Voicelink and then play in the semi-finals at the Hong Kong Stadium.'' Having beaten Sing Tao, Kui Tan meet Voicelink in the quarter-finals at Mongkok Stadium next Tuesday.
The dates for the two Asian Football Confederation competitions have been fixed for next season.
In the 14th Asian Club Championship, Hong Kong champions Eastern play the winners of a South East Asia qualifying group involving the Philippines, Macau and Brunei in the first round. The first leg will be away on Saturday, September 3 and the second leg in Hong Kong on September 17.
In the fifth Asian Cup Winners' Cup, Instant-Dict have a bye to the second round, where they meet the winners of a South Asia qualifying group involving India, the Maldives, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The first leg is away on October 1 and the second leg at home on October 22.
Italia '90 World Cup quarter-finalists Cameroon will play matches in South Korea and China to prepare for the World Cup in the United States in June.
Cameroon, whose squad includes much-travelled striker Roger Milla, 42, play in Korea first and then take on a Shenzhen XI at the Shenzhen Stadium on Thursday, May 5, in the Dunhill Invitation Cup.
The Africans, beaten 3-2 by England in the World Cup quarter-finals four years ago, play Sweden, Brazil and Russia in Group B in the States.
