Darlings of the crowd South China are not in the final of the Asian Challenge Cup, but top official Brian Leung Hung-tak was hopeful that the fans would still turn up in numbers at Hong Kong Stadium today.
South China will play in the earlier third-place play-off against South Korean side Ulsan Hyundai. Their hopes of playing in the final of the annual tournament held to celebrate the Lunar New Year were dashed by Guangzhou Evergrande, who beat them 1-0 last Thursday.
'It is a shame South China are not in the final but I still hope we will get a better crowd than that which turned up on the first day,' said Leung, chairman of the Hong Kong Football Association.
Only 10,037 fans - of which just 8,636 paid to get through the turnstiles resulting in gate receipts of HK$1,553,120 - turned up for the double-header on the opening day of the four-team competition.
Despite the low attendance at the 40,000-capacity stadium, Leung was pleased with the calibre of competition, especially at the performance of Chinese Super League team Tianjin Teda - runners-up in the mainland's top-tier competition last season - who handed out a 4-0 thrashing to Ulsan Hyundai.
With Tianjin preparing for the start of the Super League in a month's time, coach Arie Haan is using the trip as a build-up to the campaign to win the championship this season.
