Hong Kong have been handed a date with feted former head coach Jorn Andersen after the city team were drawn in the same group as Myanmar for the inaugural Fifa Asean Cup in September and October.
Hosting the tournament’s second-tier as an invited team, Hong Kong will also face Brunei in Group A of the “Challenge Division”, with the table toppers booking a final against one of Cambodia, Laos and East Timor, the three teams in Group B. The group runners-up will be condemned to a third-place playoff.
Back in June, Cambodia handed Roberto Losada a sobering baptism, overwhelming Hong Kong in a 2-0 victory, four days after the manager began his permanent reign with a facile win over lowly Mongolia by the same scoreline.
The new Asean tournament will be contested from September 24 to October 3, during a newly elongated Fifa window.
Indonesia will stage the eight-team ‘Premier Division”, which, curiously, will feature world No 198 side Pakistan, the guest replacements for China, who bailed on the competition to play in a friendly tournament that their football chiefs believe qualifies as better preparation for next year’s AFC Asian Cup finals.
Lauded for a 2½-year spell as Hong Kong boss when he qualified for the Asian Cup in 2023, ending the city team’s 55-year wait to reach a major tournament, and oversaw the 2022 Asian Games semi-final campaign, Andersen was appointed Myanmar head coach last month.