Lionel Messi won’t have it easy in Hong Kong, says coach plotting to stop the GOAT and co – ‘we don’t want to play like a friendly’
- Inter Miami’s opponents, a Hong Kong select, ‘will go out and push them’, coach Jorn Andersen says
- Some local stars miss dream clash after Andersen ‘had to cut players I wanted’, having been told to pick at least one from every Premier League team
Eclipsing the “GOAT” and his mates may seem an impossible task for Hong Kong’s invitational team as they face Inter Miami, but their coach insists they are not about to roll over.
No matter that Lionel Messi, often dubbed the “greatest of all time”, has caused pandemonium on his arrival in the city. National team boss Andersen, who will lead a squad representing the local Premier League in Sunday’s match at Hong Kong Stadium, says enjoying the show is not his priority.
“I will tell my team, we do not have to save anyone, we will go out and push them,” Andersen said.
“The match is a show; sometimes in this kind of game, you see players holding back. We want to go out and show our best performance, we do not want to play like a friendly.
“It is better for our players if they can play at their best level, and if we get a good result, that will be positive. Maybe we do not have a chance, but we will try.”
He added: “If we lose, nobody [among supporters] will really care, they will have seen Messi. But I think we will be competitive.”
Miami’s preseason has been sub-par: a draw and three losses, with three blanks in four games. Two fixtures in Saudi Arabia brought a 4-3 defeat by Al Hilal and a 6-0 drubbing by Al Nassr on Thursday.
Andersen watched the first Saudi match on television and noted “it was a hard match, with tackling and no holding back”.
He wants to go full-tilt for Miami’s scalp despite Messi and his former Barcelona teammates Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba – and despite having to cut 15 players from Hong Kong’s original squad of 40.
A requirement to represent each top-flight club and the cream of the city’s foreign crop meant national team favourites such as Tan Chun-lok, Shinichi Chan and Wong Wai missed out on a dream encounter with Messi.
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“I had to cut players I wanted,” Andersen said. “There was space for only six from the Asian Cup squad. I was told I needed one player from every Premier League team.
“The players who missed out will be so disappointed, but it is football. I tried to find the right combination.”
The match’s timing, during the Asian Cup, has raised eyebrows.
“I was surprised – it is normal to have [exhibitions] like this in Hong Kong, but if the date was right, I do not know,” Andersen said. “Maybe we could have still been at the Asian Cup. Clubs have been missing players for seven or eight weeks, and want them back.
“But it is preseason for Inter Miami, so this is the only time they could come.”
