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Paul McNamara

Tai Po head coach Lee Chi-kin said he would like to explore opportunities overseas after his team staved off a late Eastern District fightback in their 2-1 FA Cup final success on Saturday.
Lee’s side could have been out of sight by half-time but had to settle for a 2-0 lead following a pair of goals from Philip Chan Siu-kwan.
Timid and defensive before the break, Eastern District were hugely improved after the restart, and a late penalty from Valentino Yuel left Tai Po to navigate 10 nervous minutes of stoppage time.
After leading Tai Po to the second league title in their history last season, Lee has added the FA Cup and Senior Shield this time around.
Acknowledging he would lose players this summer, Lee said: “It’s positive for them if they have good offers, but nobody wants to take me.
“If there’s a chance out of Hong Kong I want to try. I want to see and learn more, so I am waiting for the opportunity.”

Under a roasting sun at Mong Kok Stadium, Tai Po immediately set up camp in their opponents’ half. Sim Seung-hyeon thudded the base of a post, Fernando left-fly from 40 yards to test goalkeeper Paulo Cesar and Patrick Valverde’s improvised flick drew the Eastern District keeper back into action.
After 14 minutes, Gabriel Cividini headed a Valverde free-kick back across goal and Chan applied the finishing touch from about two yards.
The attacker was similarly close to the line when he converted in first-half stoppage time, after Cesar clawed out a Valverde effort.
“I work a lot on being in the right place, and I have that smell [for where the ball will drop],” Chan said.
“There was an invisible pressure on us to win this Cup, people were saying we’d dropped this season ... so it means a lot to us. I don’t give a s*** who scores the goals. We just needed to end strong and tell the world we’re among the top competitors in the league.”
Lo Siu-kei, the Tai Po keeper, was finally tested by a low Aleksandar Andric shortly after half-time.
A shoulder injury forced off influential forward Igor Sartori, and Valverde succumbed to a hamstring problem as Tai Po began to tire.
Repeatedly let down by a lack of composure on the ball as they attacked with increasing urgency, Eastern District were given a leg up when Tam Ping-wun, the referee, was sent to his monitor to analyse a barely discernible handball in the box.
After a protracted check, Yuel scored into the bottom left corner.
Two minutes later, after Lo committed his lone error when he flapped at a cross, Yuel struck goalwards, only for substitute Alex Dujardin to hack the ball off the line.
Dujardin clenched his fists and roared in celebration.
“I’m going to go away and look at how I can save more energy to put that ball in the back of the net,” said Yuel, who is flying home to Australia on Sunday to discuss his future with his family.
“In finals, you can’t wait until the second half to give it everything, you have to go from the beginning. The pressure doesn’t really get to me, I just keep to the same principles.”
Cesar brought down Paulinho Simionato in the box deep into stoppage time, but Tai Po defender Marcao slammed the penalty against the bar.
Off the field because of a knee injury that he is optimistic will not keep him out of Hong Kong’s game against Mongolia on Friday, Chan said: “After Marcao’s penalty, I was worried there would be more drama, so I was on the sidelines shouting.
“I can tell you one thing, we’re going to be there competing in the league next season, and we want to take on the Asian Champions League Two adventure again.”
Cividini, Weverton Rangel and Sim are all out of contract on Sunday, and a number of players have already left.
“It’s better that I wait for the club to say what will happen next,” said Lee, whose recent enforced overhaul of his team has presented a first-team opportunity to Marco Wong Hin-sum.
The midfielder made just his third start of the season in the final. “This shows that dreams do come true,” he said.


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Sport

Football

Lee Chi-kin leads club to second trophy of campaign following 2-1 win over Eastern District, keen to explore chances abroad


Lee Chi-kin leads club to second trophy of campaign following 2-1 win over Eastern District, keen to explore chances abroad.


Eastern District SA

Lee Chi-kin

Hong Kong FA Cup: Tai Po boss open to new opportunities after final victory

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Lee Chi-kin leads club to second trophy of campaign following 2-1 win over Eastern District, keen to explore chances abroad

Lee Chi-kin leads club to second trophy of campaign following 2-1 win over Eastern District, keen to explore chances abroad