The Hong Kong national football team is once again triumphant, with the final score being 2-0 against the Maldives in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers at the Mong Kok Stadium yesterday evening.
The stadium reached full capacity with over 6,000 seats occupied – not surprising considering 4,000 tickets were sold straight after Hong Kong’s last qualifier match on Thursday, when we defeated Bhutan 7-0.
Neither side scored in the first half despite Hong Kong gaining several corner kick advantages, with our first goal coming from Xu Deshuai at 63 minutes, then another by Lam Ka-wai only seven minutes after. (Stay posted for our full match report later today.)
Hong Kong is currently at the top of its pool with six points, followed by China with three.
A one-minute silence was held before the match in honour of Hong Kong football legend Wu Kwok-hung, who passed away earlier this week. Wu led the Hong Kong squad to a 2–1 victory over China in a 1985 World Cup qualifier match, which sparked a series of riots in the country by dissatisfied football fans.
As happened in the match against Bhutan, Hong Kong football fans jeered as the Chinese national anthem was played – though it was louder this time – and chanted “we are Hong Kong”, as shown in a video from Passion Times. The jeering was cut out from TVB’s live broadcast.
Video: Passiontimes
Image: TVB Screenshot, Hong Kong’s first goal at 63 minutes
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