Hong Kong win sixth straight, sweep Guam aside for East Asian Football Federation finals spot
Qualification for summer 2025 tournament in South Korea sets up first competitive meeting with China since December 2022
Hong Kong brushed aside Guam 5-0 on Tuesday to reach next year’s East Asian Football Federation Championship (EAFF) finals in South Korea.
On what could prove to be the city team’s Hong Kong Stadium swansong, ahead of a 2025 switch to Kai Tak Sports Park, Philip Chan Siu-kwan, twice, Nicholas Benavides, Everton Camargo and Dudu were all on target, as Ashley Westwood’s side joined the hosts, Japan and China in next July’s tournament.
Englishman Westwood, meanwhile, has become the first Hong Kong head coach since Kwok Ka-ming in 1985 to win six successive matches.
This was, by some distance, the simplest of the lot. Guam’s victory over Macau on Saturday to reach this qualifying final was their first in a competitive game since June 2019.
A nation of roughly 173,000 people, and Asia’s lowest-ranked team at 203 in the Fifa standings, they were hopelessly overmatched.
Westwood is showing himself to be blessed with the Midas touch, nonetheless. His three changes from the team that beat Chinese Taipei 2-1 on Sunday included recalls for Chan and Benavides, along with a first start for centre-back Dudu.