Hong Kong coach says modern coaching set-up can help bid for 2034 World Cup qualification
Darren Arnott, who is leading city team in Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup with tie poised at 1-1, says players are keen to ‘play and improve’
Darren Arnott said giving players increased access to physical, medical, analytical and psychological support would enhance Hong Kong’s chances of achieving their 2034 Fifa World Cup qualification goal.
As head coach of the city’s under-20 and under-23 teams, Arnott works with a number of players who could potentially spearhead Hong Kong’s quest to reach the 48-team tournament in Saudi Arabia. The city team are No 155 in the Fifa world rankings.
Arnott, who is also in charge of a young squad for this month’s Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup, has extensive experience of English youth football after holding various coaching roles with Leeds United.
Since coming to Hong Kong seven months ago, he has seen a number of people in local football working furiously to try to “create a good environment for the players”, but noticed a discrepancy in the “physicality of Hong Kong players versus other nations”.
In September’s AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, his U20s beat Singapore, but lost to Qatar and were heavily beaten by Jordan.
“[Physical differences] could be because of nutrition, sleep patterns, and understanding of how to train and when to rest,” Arnott said, adding that things that were “taken for granted in Europe” where areas Hong Kong needed to improve on.
