Hong Kong women given harsh lesson in football basics by Thailand, as team plays at home for first time in 4 years
- Visitors ease to 5-0 victory at Tsing Yi Sports Ground, banging in four first-half goals
- Head coach Rambo hails side’s perseverance but acknowledges that players lack match fitness
Hong Kong women were given a tough lesson in football basics by Thailand on a wet afternoon at Tsing Yi Sports Ground on Sunday.
The far-superior visitors eased to a 5-0 win, highlighting the amount of work that Ricardo Rambo’s side have ahead of them before next month’s Asian Games.
Playing at home for the first time in four years, Hong Kong feel behind in the first minute after goalkeeper Ng Yuen-ki misjudged the flight of a Chatchawan Rodthong free-kick, and were chasing the game from that moment on.
“Thailand showed they were far better than us in terms of ball control, passing and all other basic skill aspects,” Chan Wing-sze, the Hong Kong captain, said. “They could easily predict our next move and stopped us as we struggled throughout the match.
“But still this is a good lesson, especially this was the first time we played at home after such a long period of time. We could hear the cheering for Hong Kong from the spectator stands and it was impressive. We have to work hard to pay them back.”
Rambo said his side had lost two years in terms of training and competition because of Covid-19, but did appreciate the players’ efforts as they build up to September’s Games in Hangzhou, where they will face South Korea, the Philippines and Myanmar in the group stage.
“As I said before it would be a tough game for us as Thailand are a team good on possession and we just started our training and are about 60 to 70 per cent of our match fitness,” he said. “Normally after losing the first goal like that we would have been very down, but today the girls kept trying and I really appreciate that.”
Chatchawan drew first blood, and captain Saowalak Pengngam struck twice more either side of a Ploychompoo Somnuek effort that left Ng with no chance, and ended the game as a contest before half-time.
Hong Kong kept things far tighter after the break, and it wasn’t until the dying moments that Natcha Kaewanta added her side’s fifth.
