Hong Kong Team vs Inter Miami CF: 3 city players who will go to head-to-head with David Beckham and Lionel Messi’s all-star team of Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suárez
While fans already know the Argentinian World Cup-winning captain and his all-star Inter Miami CF teammates Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suárez, Hong Kong Team players going shoulder to shoulder with these legends may be less familiar to us.
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The Hong Kong Football Association recently announced its line-up for the match, which includes players from Team Hong Kong and all 11 Hong Kong Premier League teams. In total, 19 of the 40 players on the roster are from the premier league teams.
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Ahead of the big match at Hong Kong Stadium on February 4, we run down three local city players anyone tuning in should know.
1. Philip Chan Siu-kwan
The midfielder is currently with Tai Po FC. Chan grew up in the world of competitive sports – his father is renowned former Hong Kong champion jockey Tony Chan.
Though he did not follow in his father’s footsteps, he carved out his own path at a young age, training at the youth academy with Brazilian club Gremio FBPA when he was just 14.
He also trained with the Guangzhou City Football Club but has spent most his professional career playing in various teams in the Hong Kong Premier League. The footballer is a University of Hong Kong graduate in exercise and health. He’s said to be fluent in English and picked up Portuguese when training in Brazil.
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2. Shinichi Chan
One of the younger players in the team, Chan has been playing for Hong Kong Premier League team Kitchee SC since his debut at 16. Now 21, the defender has been on loan to Spanish football club Real Unión since the beginning of last year and will complete his contract in 2024.
He was born in Tokyo, where his mother is from. The half-Japanese, half-Chinese footballer later relocated to Hong Kong with his family, where he pursued a professional career on the pitch.
3. Yapp Hung-fai
The goalkeeper made a name for himself at the 2009 East Asia Games final match when he led Team Hong Kong to victory with a save in the penalty shoot-out. He currently plays for Hong Kong Premier League’s Eastern Sports Club.
Yapp has spent his entire professional career in Hong Kong and is regarded as one of the most illustrious goalkeepers the city has ever seen. He is Hong Kong’s most capped player, having appeared in 90 international matches.
- Hong Kong ended 2023 with a stellar Clockenflap line-up, but there’s an even bigger international spectacle ahead, with Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami CF in town to take on Hong Kong Team’s local heroes on February 4
- Goalie Yapp Hung-fai is Hong Kong’s most capped player, while Philip Chan Siu-kwan could have followed in his father’s footsteps to become a jockey but chose football instead