Football chief praises Hong Kong after losing 3-1 to highly ranked Iran in 2022 World Cup qualifiers
- ‘There is a big gap between the two sides in every department and the result is not unexpected,’ says chairman Pui Kwan-kay
- Matthew Orr scores in closing stages in Bahrain after Hong Kong forced to defend throughout 90 minutes
Football Association chairman Pui Kwan-kay praised the performance of Hong Kong despite their 3-1 loss to Iran in the 2022 World Cup Asian zone qualifiers in Bahrain.
Playing their first international match in 19 months due to the coronavirus pandemic, Hong Kong were always going to be up against it, with their rivals boasting players such as Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who plays for Brighton in the English Premier League, and Sardar Azmoun, who plays for Russian club Zenit St Petersburg.
Iran are ranked second in Fifa’s Asian rankings (Japan are first), with Hong Kong at 27th.
“It was always going to be a difficult match as Iran had to win to keep their hopes alive in the group,” said Pui. “They pressured us from the first minute. There is a big gap between the two sides in every department and the result is not unexpected.
“But the boys’ fighting attitude does delight me. Even when we were 3-0 down in the closing stages, we did not give up hope and scored a late goal. We could not ask for a better result against a team like Iran as they also beat us 2-0 when they came here in the away game in 2019.”
