Jorn Andersen said everything was still possible in Hong Kong’s remarkable Asian Games campaign – and his team would aim to overpower Japan in Wednesday’s semi-final.
The Norwegian masterminded a shock 1-0 quarter-final victory over Iran, employing the counter-attacking style that saw his team past Palestine to overcome the four-time champions.
Japan have won all four of their matches in Hangzhou, scoring 13 goals and conceding only two. Iran boasted a similarly daunting record before meeting Hong Kong, and Poon Pui-hin’s winner was the only time their defence was breached in the competition.
“We stand a chance against everybody, Japan will be a different match, they are a younger team but have many high-quality players,” Andersen said.
“Physically, we were a bit down when competing with Palestine [1-0 win in last-16] and Iran, but against Japan, I think maybe we can be the more physical, stronger side, because they are playing with many under-19 and under-20 players.
“It was a great victory against Iran, we trained well and, tactically, we prepared well. We saw some weaknesses we could exploit.
“Our big task was to not concede an early goal, and to be strong at the back. At half-time, I told the players to take more risks, then we would get some chances and Iran would grow more tired. That is exactly what happened.
“The players are fantastic, we are improving every day in training and matches … everything is still possible.”
Hong Kong will face the senior Iran and Palestine teams, in addition to UAE, in the group stage of January’s AFC Asian Cup, and are in line to face Iran in Fifa World Cup qualifying if they successfully navigate a two-leg play-off with Bhutan this month.
It might be a stretch to suggest the young Hong Kong team’s Asian Games exploits – only three of the squad were born before January 1, 1999 – will have any bearing on the imminent senior fixtures. But Andersen said the performances in China would see long-term benefits.
“Beating Iran is a very important win for the young players, for their improvement in the future,” he said. “We have now found a way to play, we have to play aggressively, in attack and defence.
“We’ve done it two times against strong teams, which is the big point. I tell my players, ‘If we are competing with these opponents, we are on a good way’. It was not a lucky win against Iran. They pressed us, they pushed us, but they had only two or three big chances.”
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