England boss Gareth Southgate’s ex-teammate Gianluca Festa eyes Hong Kong head coach role
- The former Inter Milan and Roma defender, who played with Southgate at Middlesbrough, wants opportunity to ‘grow and improve’ Hong Kong football
Former Inter Milan and Roma defender Gianluca Festa has emerged as a shock contender to take over as Hong Kong head coach.
Festa, who was a colleague of England manager Gareth Southgate at Middlesbrough, has applied for the job vacated by Jorn Andersen in May.
The 55-year-old has been out of work since he was fired by Greek Super League club PAS Lamia in November 2022. Festa is convinced he can oversee the “growth and improvement” of a Hong Kong team that reached this year’s AFC Asian Cup finals, ending a 56-year wait to qualify for a major tournament.
The Italian’s interest in Hong Kong football was piqued when he came to the city to play in January’s World Football Masters Cup exhibition game.
When Festa learned Andersen had quit to take charge of Yunnan Yukun in China League One, following two-and-a-half successful years in charge, he moved to apply for the post.