HK eyes Guangdong-HK Cup glory on home turf

The SAR’s footballers will play the second leg of the Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup on home turf on Wednesday evening, after the team settled for a 1-1 draw against Guangdong in the first leg in Guangzhou last week.

The match will kick off at 8 pm tonight at the Hong Kong stadium. Tickets to the game are still available on Ticketflap. RTHK’s TV 32 and its YouTube channel will broadcast the match live.

The Hong Kong Football Association provided updates on the team yesterday, announcing that Kitchee midfielder Clement Benhaddouche will be called up to the squad after defender Timothy Chow withdrew through injury.

Meanwhile, the Guangdong FA confirmed that Xinjiang-born forward Behram Abduweli will continue to be included in their roster for tonight’s match.

Playing away at the Yuexiushan Stadium in Guangzhou last week, Hong Kong team’s only goal came in the 38th minute from captain Stefan Pereira, who took a shot inside the penalty area that deflected off a defender and found its way to the back of the net, thanks to a left flank cross from Lau Ka-kiu.

The home side ramped up their attacks in the second half and managed to level the score in the 74th minute, after defender Alexander Jojo was penalized for a handball in side the penalty area - which was converted by Guangdong substitute Jiang Zhipeng.

According to the rules, if the aggregate-goal score after two legs is level, there will be two 15-minute periods of extra time. And if no further goals are scored during extra time, a penalty-kick shootout will take place to determine which team lifts the cup.

Last year marked the return of the competition for the first time since 2019, and Guangdong won it in a penalty shootout.