Hong Kong will look to continue its terrific start in the AFC Asian Cup when it takes on the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
With four points in two matches thus far, Hong Kong has proven to be the surprise of the tournament. Hong Kong drew 0-0 with Uzbekistan in February before shocking Vietnam 1-0 in March. Despite the favorable results, the team is keeping a level head about its performance and expectations moving forward.
"We are punching above our weight in the Asian Cup as we are second in the group, but are the lowest ranked team by far. UAE are top and 66 places higher than us in the FIFA rankings. Any kind of result would be fantastic," Hong Kong soccer chief executive Mark Sutcliffe, according to the South China Morning Post. "This is a difficult group and qualifying would be an enormous achievement. The success of the Hong Kong team will underline progress being made under Project Phoenix [overhaul of Hong Kong soccer]," he added. "Success now will be as a result of the hard work and commitment of a few people. However, long-term sustained success will take much longer to achieve and can only be derived from changing systems, structures and attitudes."
Meanwhile, Director of Operations at Hong Kong Football Club Tony Sealy is taking a cautious approach to the upcoming game against United Arab Emirates.
"UAE are a better side technically and if they have more space and time on the ball, it will be harder to break them down," he said, according to the South China Morning Post.
Prediction: Hong Kong is home and should get some advantage from that. However, the United Arab Emirates are superior and should have no difficulty cruising to a 2-0 win.
Start Time: Kick-off gets underway at 7:30 a.m. EST
The match will not be broadcast in the United States or online.
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