Spanish-born Jorge Tarres condemns violence in Catalonia as he eyes Hong Kong debut in Asian Cup qualifier
The 36-year-old striker is one of three players that become eligible this week and have been included in Kim Pan-gon’s 23-man squad
Barcelona-born striker Jorge Tarres admitted on Monday night he feels shame after witnessing from afar the violence-tainted Catalan independence referendum, but the 36-year-old did not want to shift the attention away from Hong Kong’s upcoming AFC Asian Cup soccer qualifier against Malaysia.
Hong Kong play host to Laos in an international friendly on Thursday in a match that is their final warm-up clash ahead of their qualifier against visitors Malaysia next week, a match they need to win to keep their hopes alive of earning a spot in the 2019 event.
Tarres is one of three Spanish-born players that become eligible to play for Hong Kong this week after spending seven years in the territory and the dangerous goalscorer is a key member of Kim Pan-gon’s 23-man squad.
He had his say on the chaos in his homeland after his first practice session with the Hong Kong team at Sai Tso Wan, expressing his sadness while trying to remain upbeat about his impending debut.
“I am a football player and this is not the right place to talk about things of this kind, but honestly I feel terrible and I feel shame,” Tarres said.
“They sent the police to the poll stations to hit the people, to hit parents with kids, they made a mistake. It’s terrible.
