Tributes paid to Hong Kong-trained West Ham soccer player Dylan Tombides

A former teammate in Hong Kong has joined international tributes to Australian soccer ace Dylan Tombides, who died at the age of 20 on Friday after a three-year battle with testicular cancer.

Tombides attended the Brazilian Soccer School in Yau Ma Tei while his family lived in Macau from 2007 to 2008, before moving to London to play for English Premier League giants West Ham United.

He was diagnosed with cancer while playing for Australia at the 2011 Under-17 World Cup in Mexico, but recovered to make his first-team debut for the Hammers a year later.

"Everyone thought he had recovered from cancer and it was really terrible to hear," said Toby Down, a former teammate at the Brazilian Soccer School. "It's really ridiculous that he died at such a young age as there was a crazy future ahead of him.

"We were still good friends… we were all proud of him for what he had achieved as a young player," said Down, who plays for local side Citizen.

"We played together for about two years in the under-14 side and Dylan was a confident player who could use both his feet and score from anywhere. I can't remember how many goals he scored for us but he scored in at least every other game."