https://www.scmp.com/rss/524301/feed The latest news and top stories on Raphaël Merkies. A dynamic left winger, Raphaël Merkies currently plays for Chinese Super League club Shandong Taishan and represents the Hong Kong national team. Born in Paris, he began his professional career in 2022 with HKFC, later joining Southern before his move to Shandong Taishan in February 2025. Merkies, who also holds French citizenship, made his international debut for Hong Kong in March 2025, scoring his first senior goal. He previously trained... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Hong Kong warmed up for their blockbuster Asian Cup qualifier against Singapore next week with an entertaining 1-1 draw against Cambodia on Thursday. When Wong Wai’s clever finish capped some fine build-up play after 31 minutes, it was just reward for the city team’s dominance at Hong Kong Stadium. But just as 7,480 boisterous fans, roughly 42,000 fewer than are expected to watch against Singapore at the plusher Kai Tak Stadium next Tuesday, were bracing themselves to be royally entertained,... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3332702/hong-kong-held-cambodia-warm-critical-asian-cup-clash-singapore?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3332702/hong-kong-held-cambodia-warm-critical-asian-cup-clash-singapore?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Nov 2025 15:59:08 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Liam Herbert was once “booted out” of Hong Kong’s youth rugby programme. Courted by football clubs in England following a series of trials, he ran for the hills. “I’d been homesick and was calling my parents, telling them I wanted to get out,” Herbert said. “I came back and they were fuming, they told me, ‘You idiot, get on with it’.” Showing an aptitude for understatement to match the talent and physicality that have made him one of Hong Kong’s outstanding rugby sevens players, Herbert added:... https://www.scmp.com/sport/rugby/hk-sevens/article/3329778/how-liam-herbert-went-wasteman-hong-kong-key-man-national-games-rugby-7s?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/rugby/hk-sevens/article/3329778/how-liam-herbert-went-wasteman-hong-kong-key-man-national-games-rugby-7s?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Oct 2025 00:00:12 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Raphael Merkies fired a warning shot at Bangladesh on Sunday, vowing to make them pay double after they refused to hand over the match ball following his hat-trick heroics in Dhaka. The Hong Kong winger’s dramatic late winner sealed a 4-3 win for Ashley Westwood’s side in their Asian Cup qualifier last week, and the two Group C rivals will resume hostilities on Tuesday in the reverse fixture. Victory at Kai Tak Stadium would leave the home side one win from qualifying for the finals in Saudi... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3328693/hong-kongs-hat-trick-hero-merkies-vows-make-bangladesh-pay-after-match-ball-snub?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3328693/hong-kongs-hat-trick-hero-merkies-vows-make-bangladesh-pay-after-match-ball-snub?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Oct 2025 09:34:35 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Head coach Ashley Westwood has targeted the “two big results” that would book Hong Kong’s 2027 Asian Cup finals spot, after a stunning 4-3 victory in Bangladesh on Thursday. That result, combined with second-placed Singapore drawing at home against India, gave Hong Kong a two-point lead at the top of qualifying Group C with three matches remaining. It had looked like Hong Kong would toss away the chance to capitalise on Singapore’s stumble when Bangladesh drew level at 3-3 in the ninth minute of... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3328490/hong-kong-two-big-results-second-straight-asian-cup-finals-westwood-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3328490/hong-kong-two-big-results-second-straight-asian-cup-finals-westwood-says?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Oct 2025 09:30:08 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Substitute Raphael Merkies completed a thrilling hat-trick with a 101st-minute winner as Hong Kong won an astonishing AFC Asian Cup qualifier 4-3 in Bangladesh. The city team had hit back through Everton Camargo and a Merkies double after Hamza Choudhury gave the hosts a 13th-minute lead. But it looked like Hong Kong had blown a golden opportunity to seize the initiative in their qualifying Group C after Shekh Morsalin struck in the 84th minute, and Shamit Shome buried a header beyond substitute... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3328431/hong-kong-strike-death-stunning-afc-asian-cup-win-bangladesh?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3328431/hong-kong-strike-death-stunning-afc-asian-cup-win-bangladesh?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Oct 2025 16:43:25 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Mahama Awal has backed Hong Kong’s energy to combat a hostile home crowd in Bangladesh this week, and the winger anticipated a packed Kai Tak Stadium helping the city team turn on “maximum power” in the return clash. Bangladesh’s National Stadium is poised to be full to its 22,000 capacity for Hong Kong’s visit on Thursday, after an initial wave of 19,000 tickets was snapped up in 24 minutes. The Football Association of Hong Kong China, meanwhile, said the 50,000-capacity Kai Tak had sold out,... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3327949/hong-kong-will-overcome-hostile-bangladesh-asian-cup-atmosphere-pledges-forward?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3327949/hong-kong-will-overcome-hostile-bangladesh-asian-cup-atmosphere-pledges-forward?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Oct 2025 04:30:08 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara After training with the France national youth team, and attending camps at Paris Saint-Germain and Ajax, Raphael Merkies thought moving to Hong Kong in 2016 would wreck his football dream. Nine years later, as an increasingly important figure for the representative team, the Paris-born winger said coming to the city was the making of him. Merkies said it was an easy decision to obtain a passport last year. He made his city team debut in January’s Hong Kong-Guangdong Cup, then secured a transfer... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3317068/hong-kong-star-trained-psg-and-ajax-living-his-dream-city?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3317068/hong-kong-star-trained-psg-and-ajax-living-his-dream-city?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Jul 2025 02:00:13 +0000