2009 East Asian Games

East Asian Games 2009: Hong Kong Football's Moment in The Sun

Christopher KL Lau

The East Asian Games 2009 (December 5th to 13th) seemingly came and went without much fuss in Hong Kong, the local government's ambitious and honorable plans to ultilize the games to implement a greater sports culture in the 27/4 city somewhat fell flat as daily life continued unbated despite the plethora of spectator sports and events on offer across the city. Hong Kong working life can be relentless and given all the other daily distractions available, attendances were relatively poor throughout, much to the disappointment of the organizers.

East Asian Games 2009, Hong Kong, Stadium

Hong Kong u-23s

Enthusisiam and interest picked up when the Hong Kong under 23 team (with four overage players) reached the final of the football competition. Six countries had sent representative national teams with South Korea sending a team of over 23's selected from the K-League while Japan and China sent their under 21 teams. Thus, two groups of three went head to head with the top two making the semi-finals. The other participating nations were North Korea and Macau. All the games were played at Hong Kong stadium and Siu Sai Wan sports ground.

In the first round of group games, the scores were pretty much as expected with all the big guns coming out ontop with poor Macau becoming the whipping boys; a surprise result was HK defeating a fairly strong South Korea team by a resounding 4 to 1 in a truly absorbing game. In the semi final stages, Japan defeated South Korea 2-1 while HK edged past North Korea on penalties 4-2 (1-1 FT) in front of an estatic and fervent crowd. For the first time in history, Hong Kong had reached a final of a major international tournament.

South Korea v North Korea, penalty shoot out — South Korea v North Korea, East Asian Games 2009, Hong Kong

The Final: Hong Kong Versus Japan - 12 December 2009

This was the moment an entire generation had deemed impossible and many dreamed about....the city literally shut down to watch the final on prime time TV. Bars and restaurants were packed to the rafters and tickets began to swap for absurd prices. The game was a total sell out and was actually part of a double header with the first match being a mouth watering match between North Korea and South Korea for the bronze medal.

This was the perfect warm up game with national pride at stake for both nations, the game was played at a relentless pace and the neutral crowd cheered for all grandoise displays of teamwork and skills. The game finished 1-1 in normal team and extra time could not separate the two so a compelling penalty shoot out ensued with plenty of time wasting and gamesmanship between the kicks from both sides. The South Koreans held their nerve and ended up defeating their neighbours 4-2. The crowd also had the remarkable chance to witness one North Korean player take and miss three penalties in the shoot out (Due to technical infringements from the South Korean keeper).

Next up was the final and the HK stadium was at bursting point. The teams were evenly matched despite the HK team being slightly older in terms of age and experience. The majority of the Japanese team that day now play first team football in the J-League and some went onto represent Japan at the London Olympics; Kensuke Nagai now plays for Standard Liege in Belgium so these youngsters were no push overs. "We are Hong Kong" rained relentlessly from the stands and the stadium was awash in a sea of red as Hong Kong fans, starved for years of a game of actual importance, seized the opportunity to add to the pulsating atmosphere.

East Asian Games 2009, Hong Kong v Japan — Hong Kong v Japan, Japan Team, East Asian Games 2009, Hong Kong

Japan took the lead in the 22nd minute through the defender, Taisuke Muramatsu; but for small pockets of Japanese fans, the stadium fell silent. In the past, a HK football crowd would have grown instantly frustrated and borderline angry at their own players but this would have been ineffective so cheers and claps whirled around the stadium as the fans backed the HK players to the hilt.

HK hit back in the second half through the then South China player (Now Guangdong Sunray Cave), Chan Siu Ki in the 47th minute. The stadium and the entire city erupted with a joy unconfined, more relief if anything!

The game remained a tense stalement and went to penalties. The shoot out occurred infront of the famous HK stadium south stand where a wall of noise echoed down to unerve each Japanese player; it clearly worked as both Otsuka and Suzuki had their spot kicks saved by goalkeeper, Yapp Hung Fai, and it was left to Wong Chin Hung (then of South China and now of Biu Chun Rangers) to earn his place in HK sporting folklore by smashing in the winning goal.

Japan v Hong Kong, East Asian Cup Final 2009 — Japan v Hong Kong, East Asian Games Final 2009

Those who were lucky enough to view this piece of history realized that witnessing Hong Kong win an international competition was truly rare and many savoured the moment. It was a truly memorable day to live long in the memory, a sell out crowd, two penalty shoot outs and a record three missed penalties from the same player....all for HKD50! (4.50 British pounds).

The next day, the game was the talk of the town with the glory days of Hong Kong football back to the forefront of people's conversations. The week after, it seemed like a distant memory as the city that never sleeps just moved on forwards again.