Last night, (among other explosive things to take place in the city) Hong Kong’s football team managed to do what they did on the two previous occasions they hosted South American opposition – let in seven goals!
The 7-0 hammering by Argentina to celebrate the Hong Kong Football Association’s 100th anniversary might have been worthy news this morning if the focus was not on last night’s real drama – the violent clashes in Admiralty in the early hours between police, pro-democracy protesters and maybe a few disgruntled football fans.
But it was a night to remember for Hong Kong football supporters – or, well, the 20,000 who paid the obscene prices for tickets to the 40,000-capacity Hong Kong Stadium – as they got to see arguably the world’s best-ever player: pint-sized genius Lionel Messi, who came on as a second-half substitute.
After a 7-1 tonking at the hands of the then-World champions Brazil in February 2005 and a 7-1, er… tonking to the mighty Paraguay in November 2010, Hong Kong, 164th in the FIFA rankings, were surprisingly confident going into the game against the World Cup runners-up and second-ranked team on the planet.
“We will not just defend against Argentina, we will try and beat them,” coach Kim Pan-Gon told Sky Sports ahead of the game. Goalkeeper Yapp Hung Fai also seemed less than impressed by the mercurial talents of Messi, telling the National that he saw him miss a penalty against Brazil and was “very confident” he could save one from him if the opportunity arrived.
So poor old Yapp must have felt a bit of a plonker when he messed up the first goal by fumbling the ball and allowing Ever Banega to open the floodgates in the 19th minute. Gonzalo Higuain and Nicolas Gaitan added two more as half-time approached, before Higuain doubled his tally six minutes before the hour.
See the highlights below:
The home side was down and out after 60 minutes, so would Argentina ease up a little? Nope. Time to bring on the little superstar himself and really rub salt into the wounds. It took him all of six minutes to show Yapp who was really boss, cheekily dinking the ball over the Hong Kong keeper to leave him with egg on his face.
The Barcelona boy then set up Gaitan for his second before scoring a typical solo goal with five minutes to go and, in turn, deny the hosts the opportunity of finishing a game against South American opposition having only conceded six.
Messi’s work was not done, however, as one keen fan burst onto the pitch in the hope of getting his shirt signed, and the friendly Argentine duly obliged. Several others followed suit but were not so lucky.
So, with umbrellas to the ready in Admiralty and goals raining in at the Hong Kong Stadium yet not a raindrop in sight, it was a bad night all round for Hong Kong, don’t you think?
Ghanaian-born Hong Kong forward Christian Annan, who came on at half-time, didn’t seem to think so, however, telling the SCMP that, “[Messi] said I was the best Hong Kong player. I’ll treasure this for life.” Annan even got to take Messi’s number 10 shirt home – not a bad night at all, Christian.
Oh well, not to worry Hong Kong fans. Next up is a far more winnable match against North Korea. We’ll maybe not think about the 4-0 drubbing dished out last time we played them in December 2012. And anyway, Brazil let in seven goals in a World Cup semi-final – now that’s embarrassing!
