World Cup: Hong Kong football chiefs face crunch calls to avoid wasting Jorn Andersen legacy
- Hong Kong completed their World Cup qualifiers with a 0-0 draw in Turkmenistan, next play in September Fifa window
Hong Kong football chiefs are under pressure to avoid squandering the legacy of former head coach Jorn Andersen, after the city team’s World Cup campaign ended with a scoreless draw in Turkmenistan on Tuesday.
Wolfgang Luisser, the interim head coach, said he was “happy and proud” with a hard-fought clean sheet – Hong Kong’s first in 11 competitive matches.
The Austrian acknowledged mixed feelings over a respectable result, however, given that the point condemned Hong Kong to bottom spot in their group.
“We knew from the beginning that Iran and Uzbekistan would compete for first place, and we would play for third,” Luisser said.
Andersen, who resigned a fortnight ago, nevertheless rewrote what was possible for Hong Kong during his two-and-a-half years in charge.
The stand-out achievement, among a healthy field, was reaching this year’s AFC Asian Cup finals, 56 years after Hong Kong’s last major tournament appearance.