Football: Fame in the Orient as journeymen Brits spice up Hong Kong
Football around the world
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Hong Kong
JAPAN and South Korea have been warming up for the World Cup by contesting a four-nation international tournament, the Dynasty Cup, in Yokohama and Tokyo this week.
China and are the other teams involved. The XI is, however, not a proper international selection but a representative team from the league - which has given some journeyman professionals from Britain an unexpected taste of football on the world stage.
The team made a big impact well beyond Asia in January when they beat England's subsequent conquerors, Chile, 3-1 in the Carlsberg Cup, another four-nation tournament, on "home" soil in . Among the players that overcame the Chileans were Martin Kuhl, a much-travelled English midfield enforcer, and two former Tottenham reserves: the goalkeeper Peter Guthrie and the Irish midfielder Tim O'Shea.
's Brazilian coach, Sebastiao Araujo, took some flak for picking an entire squad of foreigners for the Carlsberg Cup, so most of the party that went to the Dynasty Cup were nationals. The reduced number of expatriates included Gary McKeown, a former Dundee midfielder, and Dale Tempest, a striker who saw service with Fulham, Huddersfield and Colchester but has been based in for several years.
Tempest, who scored for in a 5-1 defeat to Japan on Wednesday, has - like Michael Robinson, the former Liverpool striker, in Spain - made a name for himself in English-speaking Asia as a television commentator. Like his British team-mates, has given him a status and fame denied to him back home.
Croatia
CROATIA'S top players suffered a humiliating defeat on Wednesday - losing 3-1 in a friendly match against a "reserve" team chosen by journalists unhappy with the squad of the coach, Miroslav Blazevic.
Blazevic, whose relations with the press have frequently been frosty, has been accused of fielding a team full of individuals with no game plan. Wednesday's game in Zagreb will have fuelled the antagonism, with the journalists' team, who had not played together before, looking more compact than their opponents, who bizarrely played the closing minutes with just 10 men.
The captain of the "first" team, Zvonimir Boban, scored in the first half but left the field midway though the second without being replaced by Blazevic. He stripped off his captain's armband following the "second" team's third goal.
"I am a professional and I approach my job professionally. When others behave differently, I'd rather distance myself from them than bear it," Boban said afterwards.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments