It's an uphill battle, admits under-23 coach
Kim Pan-gon's squad faces pressure as they kick off their campaign against Uzbekistan in Incheon
Four years ago, Hong Kong's soccer team achieved one of their best ever Asian Games results - but a repeat in Incheon as they kick off their 2014 campaign against Uzbekistan today is unlikely, their coach admits.
"The pressure is on after a good performance at the last Asiad," said coach Kim Pan-gon yesterday. "But we face tough conditions to repeat the feat. A victory over Uzbekistan will certainly boost team morale, but it's going to be very difficult."
Hong Kong went out in the round of 16 in Guangzhou, a vast improvement on previous performances, when the joke was that they were always home before the opening ceremony.
But unlike the previous team, which comprised mostly players who won the East Asian Games championship in 2009, the current Under-23 crop have more experience of losing than winning recently.
And Kim is also worried about the fitness of his players, who haven't played much because of the late start to the season.
"The first match is important but not the most important," said the coach. "Our target is to get at least a point against Uzbekistan but even if we fail to do so, it is still not the end of the day.
