Qatar 2022: Hong Kong boss Mixu Paatelainen rings changes for Fifa World Cup qualifiers in Bahrain
- Head coach Mixu Paatelainen picks nine players he has not worked with after China-based footballers ruled out over quarantine
- ‘We’ll make sure that anybody who we play against don’t have an easy match and hopefully we can surprise,’ Finn says of Iran, Iraq and Bahrain games
Hong Kong have named their squad for next month’s Fifa World Cup qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 tournament with nine new faces getting the nod from an excited Mixu Paatelainen.
The representative team face Iran, Iraq and Bahrain in their remaining group games, which also serve as AFC Asian Cup qualifiers for the next tournament in China in 2023. It will be Hong Kong’s first games since the EAFF E-1 Finals in South Korea in December, 2019.
There are first call-ups for newly permanent residents Fernando and Diego Eli, as well as a debut nod for Matthew Orr and a return for Ngan Lok-fung, who has not played for Hong Kong since 2013. Clayton also gets a first call-up as does Yu Wai-lim in the 25-player squad.
However, the squad is missing four of Hong Kong’s players at Chinese Super League and China League One clubs, much to the disappointment of Paatelainen, who cited Covid-19 travel difficulties ruling them out.
“Talking about the players who play in China not able to be included in the squad, the reason being unbelievably long quarantine requirements and difficulty of obtaining all the certificates for them to return to China.