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Maradona, Leo Messi and Son Heung-min – Hong Kong’s football tourists of the past
- Visitors range from Pele, Eusebio and Franz Beckenbauer in the 1970s to star-studded Liverpool and Manchester City teams in recent seasons
- With Lunar New Year Cup and preseason tours off because of Covid-19 it might be some time before another high-profile visit
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On January 10, 1982, a young Diego Maradona was among the Boca Juniors side to play Seiko at Hong Kong Stadium, which the Argentine tourists won 2-0.
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Maradona, then 21, pulled the strings in a 2-0 victory in which Seiko finished goalless despite having brought in Fifa 1978 World Cup winner Gerd Muller for the game.
That match was just one example of some of the greatest footballers to have ever played the game showing their skills off in Hong Kong over the years, either on tours or in the annual Lunar New Year Cup.
This year there will be no Lunar New Year Cup or preseason tours thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, though some clubs have priced themselves out of visits to the city in recent years. In the absence of star power, we take a look back at some of the biggest stars to have played in the city.
Maradona – who died in November – visited Hong Kong years after his great rival for the best footballer of all time in the eyes of fans, Pele.
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