Eastern have shown Hong Kong football can hold its own among Asian elite, says Jaimes McKee
After a humiliating introduction to Champions League football, the Hong Kong champions have battled valiantly in their last two games
Chan Yuen-ting’s team are the first Hong Kong side to reach the group stage of the continental competition. After being humbled 7-0 by Guangzhou Evergrande – albeit after having had one man sent off in the first minutes and another with an hour still to play – you feared their participation could be painful viewing for fans of Hong Kong football.
“Obviously the first game was tough, but we did have two sendings-off and weren’t really sure where we were standing in this sort of level, so I think these two home games proved that we can compete,” said McKee.
“I think it shows that we can play at this level and we can stop them scoring. Obviously our opponents have got more of the ball at the moment but we’re making it really tough for them and we’re giving a good account of ourselves, so I think we’re proud of that and will definitely take confidence from that going into the next few games.”