AFC Asian Cup: Hong Kong dreams extinguished by inspired Palestine as Jorn Andersen’s team exit Qatar tournament
- Andersen’s team finish without a point from their group-stage matches despite a trio of gutsy performances
- Hong Kong concede twice in 12 second-half minutes, following early opener for Palestine, who reach last 16
Hong Kong’s uplifting AFC Asian Cup finals exploits are over after a 3-0 defeat at the hands of an inspired Palestine in Doha on Tuesday night.
Jorn Andersen’s gutsy team will return home pointless; their time in Qatar was anything but.
The 500-strong boisterous mob of Hong Kong supporters filled their section of the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium 45 minutes before kick-off, and nothing that unfolded on the field punctured their mood.
The question now will turn to whether Hong Kong can keep hold of Andersen for the long term after their first appearance in these finals since 1968. The Norwegian has created a daring, dashing team who have generated a buzz around Hong Kong football.
How all this can be maintained will be addressed in the coming days and weeks. On this night of nights for the national team, however, when only victory would maintain last-16 hopes, Hong Kong could not replicate the ferocious intensity from performances against United Arab Emirates and Iran that, to use the words of defender Vas Nunez, “showed a small city … can turn up in the big games”.
