Leave Hong Kong if you want to improve, mainland China-based footballer Matt Orr says
- Hong Kong striker Orr says the national team would benefit if more players quit the city’s declining Premier League for more challenging environments elsewhere
- Recruiting naturalised players to represent Hong Kong has brought welcome competition, says Orr, who is eyeing a move to Chinese Super League from second tier
Mainland China-based footballer Matt Orr has urged his Hong Kong teammates to quit the city’s waning domestic league for careers outside its borders, in a bid to raise the standard of the national side.
Striker Orr, a member of the squad preparing for Hong Kong’s first Asian Cup finals appearance since 1968, made the leap in August last year when he left a comfort zone at domestic giants Kitchee to join Guangxi Pingguo Haliao.
The 26-year-old has thrived this year in China League One, scoring 15 goals, having begun the campaign “with a chip on my shoulder and wanting to prove people wrong” after being targeted by keyboard warriors when he made a slow start in the country’s second tier.
“I hear the noise, sometimes, but I take it on the chin and use it as motivation,” he said, adding that testing himself in a “more physical and direct league” had paid off.
“I have been encouraging players to go abroad since I made the move,” Orr said. “No one wants Hong Kong to improve more than me. We want to consistently play at the highest level and compete in these big tournaments.
