Barclays Asia Trophy 2013: "A Blue Moon Over Hong Kong"
Christopher KL Lau
When the line up for the Barclays Asia Trophy 2013 was announced, there was a serious buzz of excitement in the football mad city of Hong Kong. A very strong line up was expected to come to Hong Kong and put on a thrilling display for local spectators and viewers all around the world. Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Sunderland and local champions, South China, would be battling it out for the trophy and prize money.
This is the third time the biennial tournament has been played in Hong Kong with the city being the most consistent and regular host so far. The Barclays Asia Trophy is the only Premier League-affiliated competition to be held outside England and this year will be the sixth tournament, the others having been held in Kuala Lumpur (2003), Bangkok (2005), Hong Kong (2007 and 2011) and Beijing (2009). Hong Kong was ready and prepared yet...
Rain...Rain...Go Away?
Everything was prepared, set and organized for the tournament in pure and efficient Hong Kong fashion....expect for one rather important aspect. A pivotal issue when having friendly games in the off-season in the Asia Pacific rim is the unpredictable weather. This is a case in point for Hong Kong where torrential rains and typhoons can literally bring the city to a resounding halt. Mother nature does not care which mega millionaire / billionaire team is in town when it decides to unleash its powers.
As with normal weather patterns in Hong Kong in June and July, for a few days the glorious sun beat down on the city and then it rained and rained and rained....continuously. Hong Kong Stadium has no retractable roof to protect the surface and does not seem to have plastics covers to pull over the surface so it was left to the mercy of the relentless downpour for days on end. To be fair, not many pitches in the world would be able to stand up to this and it was very unfortunate that a world wide audience would be tuning in and witnessing such an uneven and in some instances, unplayable surface.
The first day of play saw one of Spurs' lynchpins, defender Jan Vertonghen, injure himself as he slipped on the surface with no one around him. The second day saw Matija Nastasic of Manchester City also injure his ankle though this was more down to a reckless and over the top challenge then the wet surface. Emergency measures were taken and sand was placed on-top of the surface, unfortunately, the sand was not purely refined and this lead not only to immediate danger from small gravel on the pitch, it also meant the stadium's drainage system was blocked. Thus, stadium staff and the Spurs ground staff worked hand in hand to remove all existing impurities from the pitch for the final day of games to go ahead.
"A Good Day for Di Canio and the Black Cats" State of Play (Day 1) - July 24th
The tournament was pretty good value for money and for HKD350 (30 British pounds) you could purchase a one day ticket for the chance to see two games back to back. Given it was a friendly tournament, there was a feeling of a definite lack of true spark in the competition and often the atmosphere felt slightly deflated. The withdrawal of Gareth Bale was a resounding disappointment though to be fair, if you were contemplating a move to Real Madrid, your mind would be elsewhere and there is no way you would want to get injured while playing in a friendly tournament where the pitch was loose and bumpy. The lowest prices were around twenty pounds while the highest ones were around fifty pounds for the lower tier seats right on the touch line.
The first day (July 24th) still had tickets available and in the end roughly 37,500 fans went through the gates. The first game saw Spurs (minus Bale) take the field against the much improved and now very disciplined Sunderland under the watchful eye of Paolo Di Canio. In a slow paced game, Spurs dominated the early proceedings and took the lead through Gylfi Þór Sigurðsson in the 28th minute but Sunderland fought back valiantly and took the lead via goals from Cabral (33’ min), Brown (64’ min) and the match was rounded off by Karlsson (80’ min). Jozy Altidore was inspirational in leading the line and Sunderland showed much improved spirit and guile against the more star-studded Spurs team. The small pockets of Sunderland fans were in full voice throughout the game and often matched the huge number of Spurs fans whom had flown in from all across the Asia Pacific region.
Manchester City under the guidance of their new manager, Manuel Pellegrini, put out a very strong team to face local champions South China. South China put on a sound defensive display yet their attacks were few and far between and Joe Hart had very little to do. The game was settled by a Dzeko header in the 28th minute though the flood gates did not open as South China defended in determined fashion. All in all, the crowd went home satisfied.
"A Blue Moon Over Hong Kong" State of Play (Day 2) - July 27th
Between the matches, all the talk focused on the state of the much maligned and criticized Hong Kong pitch. The stadium management and the premier league big wigs were quick to reassure the participating teams that the second round of matches would be playable. The British media in particular deemed the pitch a "Killer" with André Villas-Boas leading the chorus of criticism especially with his star defender out of action for a few months. AVB went as far as calling for the tournament to be called off. The games nevertheless went ahead and a full house was in attendance.
The first game saw Spurs demolish a very disappointing South China who barely mustered a fight. Spurs scored five goals including a Defoe hat trick (45', 54' and 80' mins) along with Clint Dempsey (43' min) and Townsend ('86 min) and an own goal from South China. The crowd managed to keep themselves entertained with multiple Mexican waves and the game 'Keep the stray ball in the South Stand and away from security'.
Hugo Lloris, Spur's intellectual goalkeeper, had one save to make and probably spent the rest of the time thinking about the origins of the universe. Fair play to the Spurs players for tossing all their spare soccer shirts into the crowd as they left the field. Rain fell incessantly in spurts and the uncovered south stand became a game of musical chairs as people ran too and from their seats as the rain lashed down.
Manchester City took on Sunderland in the final. Both teams had small pockets of fans around the stadium and it was the Sunderland fans who were in fine voice and singing and chanting throughout the game. Being tough Northerners when the rain came down, some simply stood there bare chested, screaming and chanting. The game was played at a slower pace with the players taking into account the precarious conditions around them. The game was settled by yet another Dzeko barn stormer as he lashed home a loose ball to settle the game; he did have the chance to score another but he sent his penalty high and wide.
Sami Nasri 'L'Étranger"
The tournament was definitely a grinding and grueling affair for Sami Nasri who was hounded, jeered and booed every time he touched the ball. For all his misgivings in both the British and French media, Nasri probably expected that he would not be given such a rough ride in Hong Kong by a majority of the fans in the stadium.
Why exactly Hong Kong based fans were cajoling and harassing him so much still remains a mystery to me and the only logical explanation I can think of is that everyone there were closet Arsenal fans still aggrieved that he left for Manchester City and bad mouthed the club that discovered and nurtured him. To his credit, Nasri played with a calm demeanor and was often the heartbeat of all the City attacks down the wing.
Farewell to Clint Dempsey
The tournament also marked the final appearances of both Clint Dempsey and Tom Huddlestone for Spurs. With the uncertainties of the transfer market, their deals to their new clubs, Seattle Sounders and Hull respectively, were not even mentioned anywhere on social media or in the press. Both are international calibre players with Clint Dempsey being the lynchpin and inspiration for the US national team.
His goals for Fulham regularly made them punch above their weight and even though his time at Spurs was not as successful as hoped, he has definitely become the face of US soccer. His life has gone full circle and from his roots in small town Nacogdoches, Texas to Furman university to the New England Revolution to Fulham, Spurs and now back to the US to huge acclaim and adoration. "Captain America" has returned home.
Pitch Battles and Manuel's First Trophy
Manchester City won a rather lackluster tournament and sadly people will be discussing the state of the pitch rather than the games played. This is a shame as the tournament was again very well attended, organized and the marketing campaign was both enticing and very professionally performed. For the appeasing of fans, sponsors and television deals, the tournament can be deemed as a success but for free flowing attacking football then there are hardly any memorable moments to speak of.
There will be much for the Hong Kong Football association and the Hong Kong government to ponder as it reels from the negative publicity but ultimately this has been a great wake up call to resolve an issue which has existed for a long time. Since the new stadium opened in 1994, the pitch has been the focus of negative reviews; the original management, Wembley International, had a ten year contract terminated after four years and the HK Leisure and Cultural Services Department have taken over since then to very little success. The calls for a new all weather sports venue have again sprung up in Hong Kong with completion set for 2019; new developments are needed, otherwise sports events will continue to go to another aspirational Asian Cities.
The Barclays Asia Trophy 2013 will ultimately be remembered for all the wrong things and this will ultimately make the Premier league powers that be, such as Richard Scudamore decide if Hong Kong should host another of their showpiece exhibitions in the near future.
© Chris Lau & Soccerphile.com