Challenges and breakthroughs of HKFA
My compatriots, the National Football Team and Hong Kong Football Team have never been able to satisfy the crowds with their records, however, in 2023, the Hong Kong Football Team has finally tasted the sweetness of victory after all the hard work. In a thrilling match, the veteran local team defeated Uzbekistan by a lopsided score of 0-10. In the midst of this grueling duel, Hong Kong coach Jon Anderson managed to turn his team's fortunes around by boosting morale. After taking over, he poured his efforts into persuading potential players to apply for China Hong Kong SAR passports, which finally reaped fruits this year. Jon Anderson's initiative is undoubtedly a model for the national soccer team to follow!
In 2024, Jörn Andersson will take on an even more daunting task - leading the Hong Kong football team to the Asian Cup. This top tournament in Asian soccer, second only to the World Cup, is regarded as the Euro and America's Cup of the soccer world. It is the biggest stage the Hong Kong team has touched so far, and he will be personally involved in the tournament for the first time. "Enjoy it to the fullest and strive for the best performance" is what he would like to convey to himself, his players and the fans.
2023, Jon Anderson's second year at the helm of the Hong Kong team. The year before, he led the team to a successful Asian Cup, despite struggling with an epidemic and lack of training. He greeted the new year with great expectations. However, Hong Kong failed to win a single match against Southeast Asian teams such as Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. In their career, they have not scored a goal against their opponents, with the only goal being an "ouchie" by the opposition.
The poor performance of the Hong Kong team has triggered the incident of match-fixing in the local league. In May this year, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) arrested 23 people, including a coach and 11 players, and completely dismantled a corrupt syndicate of "match-fixing" illegal outside gambling. Reports at the time indicated that Hong Kong's veteran teams were suspected to be involved, which aroused widespread concern. Although Jon Anderson was only the coach of the Hong Kong soccer team and could not make a difference in the incident, he did not avoid questions from the media. "Why did they do it? Why did it happen in Hong Kong? We should think about these questions before we delve into them." His rhetorical questions are thought-provoking.
Convince the fans: win or lose, support us.
The other plights of the Hong Kong soccer team are also hard to understand for Jørn Andersen. As the first foreign "Golden Boot" scorer in the history of the Bundesliga, he has been in the limelight for years. For example, despite his repeated media appeals for fans to attend matches, the highest attendance for a Hong Kong match this year was 13,434 for the match against Thailand at the Hong Kong Stadium in June. After the Asian Games frenzy, the number has not risen, but rather fallen. "Hong Kong people are passionate about soccer and follow the European leagues, but here, the Hong Kong team should be the most watched. I'm surprised that not many people support the Hong Kong team in a city of more than 8 million people."
In Norway, and even in other small European countries where he comes from, the stadiums for national team matches are always packed even if the population is sparse. However, some Hong Kong teams complain about the high ticket prices or criticize their teams for losing so often. Jörn Andersson knows that he must emphasize one point. "The definition of a fan is one who supports the team into the stadium for every game, win or lose."
Convince players: believe they can win.
Apart from shouting at the fans, Jon Anderson's biggest task since arriving in Hong Kong has been to "convince" the Hong Kong players that they are not as bad as they think, and that they are capable of performing miracles. Both striker On Wing-kai, who is in a goal drought, and goalkeeper Tse Ka-wing, who has been banned for a year after a disciplinary storm over drunkenness, have gained the coach's trust and guidance, and ultimately performed well at the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Jon Anderson will inspire his players' potential in every way possible. Before the Hong Kong team played against Iran in the Hangzhou Asian Games, he revealed a little story. As an Asian soccer powerhouse, Iran's strength should not be underestimated. Jon Anderson pointed out that he asked the players before the match how the team would beat the opponent. At first, the players gave no response. "They couldn't believe they could win."
Port players kept repeating the strengths of their opponents, and Jon Anderson asked the same questions over and over again, and eventually got answers. "Work harder, don't shrink back, push forward more", some of the players said, "and I said, 'Yes, that's the way to win the game'. I recorded these conversations and then mentioned them in every training and meeting, convincing them with what I said, and everyone saw the results." Hong Kong ended up reaching the Asian Games semifinals with a historic performance over Iran.
However, even then, the coach did not take all the credit. After the victories over Palestine and Iran, he chose to go back to the locker room alone instead of celebrating in a circle on the pitch. "This is the result of the players' and team's efforts. The team doctor, team management and other staff helped a lot. I let them go out and enjoy the cheers of the fans, and the spotlight of the media. When everyone says Hong Kong doesn't have a good new generation of players, this wonderful moment is especially important for local young players."
After the Asian Games, Hong Kong's soccer team returned from dream to reality with back-to-back losses to Japan and Uzbekistan. Jon Anderson admits that everyone doesn't have to feel lost because of this. "I must emphasize that Hong Kong is just Hong Kong and we can't beat all the teams, but no one would have expected us to reach the semi-finals at the beginning."
During the Asian Games, there was one thing that made him proud of the Hong Kong team. "Most of the soccer teams participating in the Asian Games stayed in the same hotel. At first it was crowded there, but when it came to the knockout stage, there were more and more restaurant vacancies. In the end, only Japan, South Korea and the Hong Kong team would come for dinner."
Just having dinner with Japan and South Korea, it felt good to see strong teams like China and Saudi Arabia leave before us.
Convincing newly naturalized players: seize the opportunity.
Speaking of another of Jon Anderson's "accomplishments", he has been on the lookout for players who have a chance of obtaining a Hong Kong SAR passport and playing in a foreign league since he took over.
Michael Udebuluzor was successfully naturalized this year at the age of 19. （Michael Udebuluzor's naturalization shows his "persuasive power". "I said that if he could progress and bring achievements to the Hong Kong team, he could be as famous as Harland in Hong Kong. I actually didn't know if he was playing well at the time. I heard his team coach say he was a rising star in Germany, so I believed he could be a star in Hong Kong."
Jörn Andersson revealed that there were still three to four similar players who could be registered in Hong Kong, but the other side did not want to give up their original nationality for the time being. However, he did not give up. "I tell them that a soccer career is short and they get older after 10 years. If you want to be a star in Hong Kong, you have to grab it or the opportunity will slip away."
Frankness and sincerity may be the key to a coach's success. He does not hide problems to please others, but points them out directly, and despite the fact that he may offend others, he always wants Hong Kong soccer to prosper. "I will continue to be myself, be honest with the players, contribute my experience and knowledge and achieve more with the Hong Kong team."
