The Football Association of Hong Kong, China

Footballer waiting 6 months for Hong Kong passport scores hat-trick – then leaves town, with international dream denied

Hong Kong-born Michael Udebuluzor to board flight on Sunday, after waiting in vain for a passport he applied for at Christmas so he could represent the city

He hits treble in national team’s practice match, but coach Jorn Andersen bemoans passport saga, saying: ‘I don’t know why it has to take such a long time’

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Michael Udebuluzor made quite an impact on his unofficial Hong Kong debut on Saturday. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Chan Kin-wa

Published: 8:24pm, 10 Jun 2023Updated: 9:19pm, 10 Jun 2023

Michael Udebuluzor scored a hat-trick in Hong Kong’s training match on Saturday – and immediately packed his bags, having still not been granted a passport by the city of his birth, six months after applying for one.

The teenaged striker cannot make his international debut for Hong Kong as hoped this month without the document, but showed what he would offer the goal-shy national team in a practice match against the city’s under-22 team.

No sooner had he bagged three goals in a 7-0 win, than he was preparing to bid his potential teammates farewell, with Hong Kong coach Jorn Andersen revealing the 19-year-old would on Sunday return to his club, German third-tier side FC Ingolstadt.

“We can’t use him, because he will fly back,” Andersen said after the match at the Tseung Kwan O training base. “Unless he can get his passport on Monday, which I don’t think is possible.”

Hong Kong head coach Jorn Andersen looks on during the practice match in Tseung Kwan O. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong have fixtures away to Vietnam this Thursday and at home to Thailand the following Monday.