Mosquitoes, night markets and chicken legs: Hong Kong player recalls last Bangladesh visit
Gerard Ambassa Guy relives city team’s 2006 Dhaka visit and resisting dad’s wishes to forge overseas career
Ahead of Hong Kong’s crunch trip to Bangladesh on Thursday, former player Gerard Ambassa Guy has said the city team overcame a mosquito-infested minibus journey, inadequate food and intrusive nighttime noise to win 1-0 on their last visit to the South Asian country.
Ambassa Guy made 29 international appearances after coming to the city from Cameroon, via mainland China, in 1997.
He scored both goals when Hong Kong beat Bangladesh 2-0 at home in their AFC Asian Cup qualifier in November 2006. In March of the same year, head coach Kenny Lai Sun-cheung’s team had travelled to Dhaka for the away game.
“When we landed, they hadn’t organised a bus to the hotel, so we had to wait hours,” Ambassa Guy said. “Eventually, they arranged a minibus … it was full of mosquitoes. The journey was about one hour and a really bad experience.”
In hotel accommodation surrounded by a night market that was the enemy of sleep, the Hong Kong players were served only chicken legs for their first evening meal.
“We didn’t know if it was all mismanagement or intentional, but after we complained, everything improved,” Ambassa Guy said.