February 1, 2007

National U-23 to face Hong Kong League XI on Feb. 18

The Hong Kong Football Association has invited the Australia, China and Jamaica Olympic teams to compete along with the Hong Kong League XI for the 2007 Lunar New Year Cup.

Jamaica is using the tournament as part of its preparation for the Pan-American Games in Brazil in July 2007 and the 2008 Olympic Games in China.

The tournament marks the return to Hong Kong of Velibor ‘Bora’ Milutinovic, who masterminded China qualifying for their first ever World Cup finals.

The 2007 Lunar New Year Cup will be played over the first and fourth day of the Lunar New Year holiday (18^th and 21^st February 2007) at the Hong Kong Stadium.  The tournament will be in knockout format.  The schedule of play includes two matches on the first day of Lunar New Year (18^th February 2007) and the 3^rd/4^th Play-off and Final on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year (21^st February 2007) as seen below.

In the latest FIFA World Rankings Hong Kong is ranked 117^th, Australia 39^th, China 83^rd and Jamaica 57^th.