Kitchee officials have attributed their success in the AFC Champions League to gradual improvement built under a stable team, as they became the first club from Hong Kong to reach the knockout stage of the top tier continent cup competition. A dramatic 2-2 draw against Vissel Kobe of Japan in the last group match on Sunday night gave the Hong Kong champions the opportunity to become one of the top 16 teams in the competition. “Kitchee has been a very stable team evolving step-by-step to improve its coach and player quality,” Kitchee president Ken Ng Kin said. “The long-term strategy to accumulate improvements without drastic changes has helped us close the gap with the top teams in Asia, even though our team budget is minuscule in comparison.” Hong Kong national team manager Jorn Andersen praised the performance of Kitchee, saying their success would have a positive impact on Hong Kong football as his team prepares for the 2023 Asian Cup qualification matches. Kitchee make history by reaching AFC Champions League last 16 Kitchee started their Champions League campaign in 2015 and featured in the preliminary round two, but were eliminated by Thai side Chonburi following a 4-1 defeat. South China were the first club from Hong Kong to qualify for the tournament when they were also eliminated in the qualifying round two of the Cup’s 2014 version. Since then, the Hong Kong heavyweights have become a regular side in the Champions League and came close to reaching the round of 16 last year when they were edged out by Pohang Steelers of South Korea only by goal difference as one of the three best runners-ups across five groups. After advancing through the group stage, Kitchee now meet group G winners PG Pathum United of Thailand in round of 16 which takes place on August 18 or 19 along with the three other quarter-final matches of the East Region. All following games will be decided by a single elimination over one leg in a centralised tournament format. Confident Baena ready to make AFC Champions League history with Kitchee Kitchee start their preparation for round 16 with the additional new foreign players, after the possible suspension of Raul Baena, who was sent off against Kobe after scoring the all-important point for qualifying to the knockout round. The Kitchee boss now looks forward to their new target of further success in the Champions League. “I would not say that it is a dream come true (reaching the round of 16),” said Ng. “It was our target and we believe if we improve year-by-year, we will get there sooner or later to achieve it. The near-term target to achieve now is to qualify for the quarter-finals by getting pass Pathum, the Thai Champions. Then, anything else will be a wonderful bonus.” Kitchee head coach Chu Chi-kwong hoped Kitchee’s success could set an example for other Hong Kong clubs. “Our club president said about 10 years ago that he wanted to see Kitchee become a regular member in regional cup tournaments and the club has since been improving year by year to achieve the target,” said Chu. “In fact we have become more mature in the regional tournaments and did not even panic when we fell behind the opponents but hung in there before coming back from behind. Also, our young players such as Shinichi Chan, Law Tsz-chun and Matthew Orr have been improving in the competition and I hope they can continue to grow and help the team reach new levels.”