Roberto Losada to quit Eastern days after being named interim Hong Kong boss
Head coach says 2-1 win over Tai Po on Sunday ‘could be my last game’ in charge of Hong Kong Premier League side after 4½ years
Roberto Losada confirmed on Sunday that he plans to quit as Eastern head coach after 4½ years in charge, just 48 hours after being named as Hong Kong’s interim boss.
Losada, who has guided Eastern to successive FA Cup successes, was named as Ashley Westwood’s immediate successor on Friday and handed the job of leading the men’s team in the forthcoming Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup.
Eastern had previously said their Spain-born manager, winner of the past three coach of the year awards, would “concurrently … serve as head coach of the Hong Kong team”.
But after leading his team to a shock 2-1 victory over Hong Kong Premier League champions Tai Po on Sunday, Losada said “it was possible that could be my last game”.
While club officials were keen not to discuss the matter, the Post has been told he will leave, and Losada, who said it had been “so special” to overcome Tai Po, barely 72 hours after a 9-0 Asian Champions League 2 humbling in Vietnam against Nam Dinh, acknowledged that “the club will make a release very soon”.
“Everyone knows I’ve been appointed for the representative team, and that for the past 15 years I have given my best for Hong Kong … because I am a Hongkonger,” he said.