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AFC Asian Cup: Andersen playing selection ‘poker’ in Qatar, defender Nunez’s ‘head is free’ after club resolution
- Hong Kong play second Group C game against world ranked No 21 team Iran in Al Rayyan on Friday
- Jorn Andersen hoping opponents take his team lightly, ‘then maybe we have small chance’
Jorn Andersen said Hong Kong were “playing poker” with the balance of their AFC Asian Cup squad, after resisting the temptation to replace injury-hit Juninho in the 26-man party.
The Brazil-born Forward has managed only one start, in the New Year’s Day friendly victory over China, since obtaining his Hong Kong passport in December.
He was left out for Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of the United Arab Emirates, and Andersen all but ruled out the prospect of the 33-year-old playing against Iran on Friday.
Juninho trained alone on Tuesday, and was absent from a subsequent team practice session at Qatar University, and Andersen admitted the Kitchee player’s persistent thigh problem led him to consider summoning a replacement.
But the Norwegian, whose hand has been strengthened by the return to physical and mental fitness of defender Vas Nunez, believes his side can win their final Group C game against Palestine, and has opted to play the long game.
“No one else in Hong Kong has Juninho’s quality,” Andersen said. “He could be fit for the last match, which is, maybe, the most important. We are playing poker, but, sometimes, we have to play poker in tournaments like this.
“We thought for a long time about changing him out, but we have a good feeling … he is a player who can decide a game alone.
“We want to keep this quality, not only for the last group game, but if we have another game [in last-16], he will be here.”
Shinichi Chan and Wu Chun-ming were limited to light drills while their colleagues steadily ramped up preparations for Iran.
Neither player is thought to be at risk of missing out at Khalifa International Stadium, where Nunez and Sean Tse Ka-keung could come into contention, after both defenders trained on Tuesday.
Hong Kong had the run of training site 7 at the university complex, where Andersen gathered his players around a tactics board to begin plotting for Iran.
The head coach’s talk preceded a 10v10 match, played in one half of the pitch and to a backdrop of repeated cajoling to “close spaces, press and play forwards”.
It is a lot to take on board, even more so if a player’s mind is elsewhere. That was the case with Nunez early in the pre-tournament camp, said Andersen, with the 28-year-old out of contract at former side Dalian Pro on the mainland, and seeking new employers.
This month, he signed with China League One team Guangxi Pingguo Haliao, and, with his recovery from a shoulder injury complete, the strapping centre-half is fighting to start against Iran.
“The first two weeks of preparation, Vas was not in good shape, it was very difficult,” Andersen said. “He did not have a club, without a contract, you do not have insurance, then if you get injured, it is hard.
“His head was a big problem. He had pain there, there, there [gestures to shoulder, thigh, knee]. Now, he has changed 100 per cent. He has no more pain, and a new contract in China. Everything in his head is free, he said he is back, and he is fit and ready.”
Andersen, who has studied film of Hong Kong’s 4-0 defeat in Iran two months ago, “will not save players” for the potentially decisive Palestine fixture.
“We will go all in, in every game,” he said. “To finish third, we have to take points, and not concede many goals.”
Andersen pointed to the glitzy European clubs of a number of Iran’s players to illustrate the scale of the task Hong Kong face, but floated the prospect of opposite number Amir Ghalenoei resting players because “it is only little Hong Kong”.
“If they do, then, maybe, we have a small chance to get a good result,” he said.
Jorn Andersen said Hong Kong were “playing poker” with the balance of their AFC Asian Cup squad, after resisting the temptation to replace injury-hit Juninho in the 26-man party.
The Brazil-born Forward has managed only one start, in the New Year’s Day friendly victory over China, since obtaining his Hong Kong passport in December.
He was left out for Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of the United Arab Emirates, and Andersen all but ruled out the prospect of the 33-year-old playing against Iran on Friday.
Juninho trained alone on Tuesday, and was absent from a subsequent team practice session at Qatar University, and Andersen admitted the Kitchee player’s persistent thigh problem led him to consider summoning a replacement.
But the Norwegian, whose hand has been strengthened by the return to physical and mental fitness of defender Vas Nunez, believes his side can win their final Group C game against Palestine, and has opted to play the long game.
“No one else in Hong Kong has Juninho’s quality,” Andersen said. “He could be fit for the last match, which is, maybe, the most important. We are playing poker, but, sometimes, we have to play poker in tournaments like this.
“We thought for a long time about changing him out, but we have a good feeling … he is a player who can decide a game alone.
“We want to keep this quality, not only for the last group game, but if we have another game [in last-16], he will be here.”
Shinichi Chan and Wu Chun-ming were limited to light drills while their colleagues steadily ramped up preparations for Iran.
Neither player is thought to be at risk of missing out at Khalifa International Stadium, where Nunez and Sean Tse Ka-keung could come into contention, after both defenders trained on Tuesday.
Hong Kong had the run of training site 7 at the university complex, where Andersen gathered his players around a tactics board to begin plotting for Iran.
The head coach’s talk preceded a 10v10 match, played in one half of the pitch and to a backdrop of repeated cajoling to “close spaces, press and play forwards”.
It is a lot to take on board, even more so if a player’s mind is elsewhere. That was the case with Nunez early in the pre-tournament camp, said Andersen, with the 28-year-old out of contract at former side Dalian Pro on the mainland, and seeking new employers.
This month, he signed with China League One team Guangxi Pingguo Haliao, and, with his recovery from a shoulder injury complete, the strapping centre-half is fighting to start against Iran.
“The first two weeks of preparation, Vas was not in good shape, it was very difficult,” Andersen said. “He did not have a club, without a contract, you do not have insurance, then if you get injured, it is hard.
“His head was a big problem. He had pain there, there, there [gestures to shoulder, thigh, knee]. Now, he has changed 100 per cent. He has no more pain, and a new contract in China. Everything in his head is free, he said he is back, and he is fit and ready.”
Andersen, who has studied film of Hong Kong’s 4-0 defeat in Iran two months ago, “will not save players” for the potentially decisive Palestine fixture.
“We will go all in, in every game,” he said. “To finish third, we have to take points, and not concede many goals.”
Andersen pointed to the glitzy European clubs of a number of Iran’s players to illustrate the scale of the task Hong Kong face, but floated the prospect of opposite number Amir Ghalenoei resting players because “it is only little Hong Kong”.
“If they do, then, maybe, we have a small chance to get a good result,” he said.