Poon at double as Hong Kong beat Under-23s in Asian Cup warm-up, Andersen confirms New Year’s Day China clash

Poon Pui-hin scores twice late on against Premier League opposition in second friendly

Head coach Jorn Andersen confirms his side will play against China on New Year’s Day during their Abu Dhabi training camp

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Poon Pui-hin scored both goals in Hong Kong’s 2-0 victory over Hong Kong Under-23. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 4:27pm, 23 Dec 2023Updated: 4:59pm, 23 Dec 2023

Poon Pui-hin spared Hong Kong’s blushes in a 2-0 friendly victory over Premier League team HK U23 in Tseung Kwan O on Saturday.

The Kitchee forward struck twice in quick succession during the final third of a match divided into three half-hour periods.

It was Hong Kong’s final home game before next month’s AFC Asian Cup finals in Qatar. Jorn Andersen’s team travel to Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, and the head coach confirmed they would play China in the emirate on New Year’s Day.

Andersen received a boost with news that he can now take 26 players, and not the 23 officials initially mandated, and said he would announce his final party “on Monday or Tuesday”.

Hong Kong have further friendlies against Tajikistan, in Abu Dhabi on January 4, and Saudi Arabia, on January 10 in Doha.

Hong Kong’s Shinichi Chan (left) shapes to shoot as U23’s Khoki Sung Wang-ngai races to close him down. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Those matches will present tests unrecognisable from the one posed by an obdurate Hong Kong Under-23 side.