Doha, Qatar: Head coach Jorn Andersen expressed his pride of his Hong Kong players despite their 1-0 defeat to Iran in their second match in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 on Friday.
The East Asian side, the lowest ranked in the tournament, fought hard but were undone by a first-half finish from Mehdi Ghayedi, ending the game at Khalifa International Stadium just one goal behind Iran side ranked 129 places above them.
“I have to repeat what I said before the last game,” said Andersen.
“We played against one of the top teams in Asia. 21st in FIFA rankings, but we did not see the difference between the teams. For that I’m very proud. Football is a team sport, of course they have better players, but as a team, we matched them, we attacked them, and we pushed them. A team like Iran didn’t know how to play their football against us," he added.
Friday’s defeat leaves Hong Kong, China needing a win in their final match against Palestine if they are to have any hope of qualifying to the second round for the first time in their history, having lost their first match to the UAE 3-1.
RESULTS
Group E
Jordan 2-2 South Korea
Bahrain 1-0 Malaysia
FIXTURES
Oman vs Thailand
(Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, 5:30pm)
Krygyzstan vs Saudi Arabia
(Ahmad Bin Ali International Stadium, 8:30pm)
