I am proud of my boys, asserts Jorn Andersen after loss to India

The Strength have also qualified for the AFC Asian Cup from Group D.

Hong Kong were outsmarted and outplayed by India in all aspects of the game at the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday. However, they did create a few chances which could've turned the game around on its head had they been converted. Hong Kong have, however, qualified for the finals in 2023 as the second-placed team in Group D. Head Coach of the side, Jorn Andersen expressed his thoughts about the game in the post-match press conference.

Reaction to the game

Jorn Andersen stated that the scoreline didn't do justice to his boys' performance. “I’m not unlucky. Everyone who saw the game saw that we played a great game. India played a great game and we played a great game. We had a new and young team, we tried to press and score goals. We were excellent in the first half - we missed some big scoring chances and India got two goals from two set-pieces.

"That’s because of their experience and quality. But, my team must learn from it. In the second half, we tried to come back, we took risks after 70 minutes by taking out a defender and putting more strikers to try and score goals. However, we weren’t lucky and India scored twice in the end. I’m proud of my team. We played a good tournament. We knew we were through before the game and I’m satisfied with my team,” he stated

Rating the qualifiers experience

“It’s a fantastic achievement. More than 50 years ago we qualified for this tournament. I’ve been here for 4-5 months and the team was a new team. We missed a few best players from the league. I’m proud of the team to play the way we are. You can see how we pressed towards against India today and I’m proud of that.”

“We were unlucky today. After it was 1-0, we created some chances but today wasn’t out day and we weren’t lucky in front of the goal. We have to be better in front of the goal. We started attacking now as compared to counter-attacking football," Jorn Andersen noted.

Aggressive approach of India

“I don’t think they were that aggressive. The game is always aggressive. It’s always hard to achieve victories. Today, we were unlucky because we couldn’t take our chances.”

“There’s still a year (before the finals). I hope we can play football in Hong Kong again. We can start the league again. We need to start the league there. I hope the league will start again and new young players can come out and I can have more options for the future. I want to build a team that can create from game to game,” the coach concluded.

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