Footballer waiting 6 months for Hong Kong passport scores hat-trick – then leaves town, with international dream denied
- Hong Kong-born Michael Udebuluzor to board flight on Sunday, after waiting in vain for a passport he applied for at Christmas so he could represent the city
- He hits treble in national team’s practice match, but coach Jorn Andersen bemoans passport saga, saying: ‘I don’t know why it has to take such a long time’
The teenaged striker cannot make his international debut for Hong Kong as hoped this month without the document, but showed what he would offer the goal-shy national team in a practice match against the city’s under-22 team.
No sooner had he bagged three goals in a 7-0 win, than he was preparing to bid his potential teammates farewell, with Hong Kong coach Jorn Andersen revealing the 19-year-old would on Sunday return to his club, German third-tier side FC Ingolstadt.
“We can’t use him, because he will fly back,” Andersen said after the match at the Tseung Kwan O training base. “Unless he can get his passport on Monday, which I don’t think is possible.”
Hong Kong have fixtures away to Vietnam this Thursday and at home to Thailand the following Monday.
“I don’t know why it has to take such a long time,” Andersen said. “I don’t want to criticise, but when you see teams like China, Malaysia and the Philippines … they all put football first and give them a passport after a shorter time. In Hong Kong, everything takes a long time. But this is the rule.”
Having watched his team muster only three goals in their past nine internationals, the coach was upbeat about Udebuluzor.
“It took some time for him to get used to our style,” Andersen said. “He had only played in the [Ingolstadt] youth team. There, he doesn’t need to fight, just get in there and score. With us, he has to do more with and without the ball, and he knows that.
“Everything is going the right way. In two or three years, he can be a good striker.”
Udebuluzor admitted his disappointment that he could not yet follow in the footsteps of his father Cornelius – who was watching Saturday’s match – by representing Hong Kong.
“I tried to play for Hong Kong, but it’s the passport problem, which you have to ask the government about,” he said. “I will now go back to Germany and see what happens with my club future. I still have a contract.”
Udebuluzor is looking to fight for a place in the senior side at Ingolstadt.
Another passport-less player who made a good impression in Saturday’s rout was Antoine Viterale, the Hong Kong-born midfielder who was training with the team after returning from France, where he plays for sixth-tier club Quimper.
The Kitchee youth product, 26, must decide whether to apply for a Hong Kong passport and pursue an international career with the city. He “has something the Hong Kong players don’t have”, according to Andersen.
There was some good selection news for the Norwegian, with all four of his mainland China-based players available for the Vietnam trip. Striker Matthew Orr and defenders Leung Nok-hang, Vas Nunez and Yu Tze-nam will join training on Monday. Andersen feels his messages are hitting home.
“The past week has been very important,” he said. “The main points in training were high defending, attacking the ball and trying to win the ball high before switching from winning the ball to finishing. In this sense, we are in a good way.
“We have four games from now to September to see how we can improve.”
The Hong Kong Football Association released its 23-player squad for the two friendlies, with winger Chang Hei-yin of Lee Man called up for the first time and goalkeeper Leung Hing-kit of BC Rangers selected in the absence of the injured Paulo Argolo of Kitchee.
