The region’s top football teams have been competing in the knockout stages of the Asian Cup in Qatar ahead of Saturday’s final. Sadly, Hong Kong and China were not among them, having been eliminated in the group stages. Perceptions of the two teams’ performances, however, were very different. Hong Kong, which although part of China fields its own team in international competitions, was competing in the finals for the first time since 1968 and the lowest ranked participant.

Although losing all three games, Hong Kong’s players deserve praise for their battling performances in narrow defeats to United Arab Emirates, semi finalists in 2019, and highly rated Iran. The city’s team were given an enthusiastic ovation from their 500 travelling fans after going down 3-0 in the final match against Palestine.

China drew their first two games and lost the third. The team crashed out in the group stages for only the second time and did not even score a goal. It was the latest blow for the nation’s long-suffering football fans. Those in Qatar chanted that the players should be ashamed. There was much criticism on social media, with one post suggesting the Hong Kong team would be better representatives.

Both teams must now look to the future. Hong Kong reaped the rewards of spending weeks training together in preparation for the tournament. They showed they can narrow the gap to the region’s top teams. But it remains to be seen whether the city can keep the services of coach Jorn Andersen and maintain competitive performance levels after the players return to their clubs. Calls from some team members for greater investment and for more of them to play overseas underline the need to improve the local game, especially the premier league.