Hong Kong coach Kim Pan-gon remains upbeat despite Asian Cup qualifying defeat by Lebanon
Hosts win 2-0 at Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium on Tuesday thanks to first half goals from Mohamad Ghaddar and Hassan Maatouk in group B opener
Coach Kim Pan-gon believes Hong Kong can build on this week’s defeat by Lebanon at the start of their qualifying campaign for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup after recovering somewhat from conceding twice in the first half en route to losing 2-0 in Beirut.
Mohamad Ghaddar and Hassan Maatouk scored in the first half for the hosts on Tuesday at Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium as Lebanon made the ideal start to their campaign in group B.
For Hong Kong, it was a game of two halves as midfielder Leung Chun-pong went close for Kim’s side after the break before second half substitute Ju Yingzhi saw his free kick hit the crossbar in stoppage time.
“It’s hard to say we made mistakes as we were struggling in the first half, but I want to say the opponents were very acute while we also had some bad luck,” said Kim.
“But we were very impressive after the break as we started to dominate the game and the new players who got there in the second period also impressed me.”