Hong Kong boss Andersen feels no pressure ahead of maiden home appearance against Myanmar
- Hong Kong boss to start preparation for next year’s Asian Cup finals with two friendlies this week
- Players plying trade in mainland stay with clubs for league competitions as China not playing international game
Hong Kong head coach Jorn Andersen said he does not blame players based in mainland China for missing this week’s games against Myanmar, adding it would give others an opportunity to impress.
With the likes of striker Matthew Orr, who plies his trade across the border, missing, Andersen has selected Kitchee’s Alex Akande as part of his 25-man squad.
But rather than bemoaning the absence of one of his leading threats in front of goal, the Norwegian prefers to look on the upside.
“China will not play any international game during the Fifa window and will continue with their league matches,” the coach said. “And therefore the players will have no possibility of coming back and stay with the clubs. I can understand that.
“But when we have the next window in March, we will have the possibility of selecting all these players.”
As well as Orr, who scored against both Afghanistan and Cambodia in the Asian Cup qualifiers in Kolkata in June, other players based on the mainland include Tan Chun-lok, Leung Nok-hang, Vas Nunez and Yue Tze-nam, who only joined Chinese Super League side Meizhou Hakka at the beginning of the season.
“Matt is an important player for us and we have to select other attacking players to replace him,” Andersen said. “You always come across similar problems when selecting the squad, some players are injured or some are unavailable because of other reasons. We can only play with the best possible players and who will start the game will depend on how the game is run.”
