History
Hong Kong played its first international match after World War II in 1949, against South Korea. Its first victory came in 1953, a 4-0 win against South Korea.
Hong Kong qualified for three of the first four editions of the Asian Cup, including a third place finish in 1956 as hosts.
Hong Kong has never qualified for the World Cup. However, its most celebrated victory happened during 1986 World Cup qualifying. On 19 May 1985, in Beijing, Hong Kong faced China in the final match of the first qualifying round, where Hong Kong needed a win to advance while China needed only a draw. Hong Kong, led by coach Kwok Ka Ming, produced a 2-1 upset win, with goals from Cheung Chi Tak and Ku Kam Fai, thereby winning the group and advancing to the knockout stage, where it subsequently lost to Japan.
On 9 February 2005, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of both the Association and the Brazilian Football Confederation, Hong Kong hosted 2002 World Cup champions Brazil in a friendly match, with Lee Sze Ming scoring the only goal for Hong Kong, although Brazil won 7-1.
The year 2009 could be a turning point in the diminishing football standards of Hong Kong. On the 12th of December, Hong Kong defeated Japan and took their first East Asian Games football gold medal in the first major competition Hong Kong football team have won. This unexpected and surprising result, raised the belief that the Hong Kong football team could perform for football lovers in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong football team also won the 2010 Long Teng Cup and 2011 Long Teng Cup
Read more about this topic: Hong Kong National Football Team
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s damn is the history we make today.”
—Henry Ford (1863–1947)
“... the history of the race, from infancy through its stages of barbarism, heathenism, civilization, and Christianity, is a process of suffering, as the lower principles of humanity are gradually subjected to the higher.”
—Catherine E. Beecher (1800–1878)
“It’s a very delicate surgical operation—to cut out the heart without killing the patient. The history of our country, however, is a very tough old patient, and we’ll do the best we can.”
—Dudley Nichols, U.S. screenwriter. Jean Renoir. Sorel (Philip Merivale)