South China on Verge of History

On 21 October Wednesday evening at 8pm at Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong’s oldest football club South China will attempt to become the first Hong Kong side to reach the final of the AFC Cup tournament.


To do so, South China will have to beat Kuwait SC 1-0, or if they concede goals a winning margin of at least two goals will be required. The first leg of the AFC Cup 2009 semi-final saw Kuwait SC win 2-1 against South China.

If South China are successful, they will also have the opportunity to compete in the play-offs for the 2010 AFC Champions League. South China did enough to get past Neftchi (Uzbekistan) in the AFC Cup 2009 quarter-finals.

The only other Hong Kong team to have reached the same position of the AFC Cup is Sun Hei, which reached the 2005 semi-finals before losing 6-2 on aggregate to Lebanon’s Nejmeh.


The match officials for the South China (Hong Kong) vs Kuwait SC (Kuwait) match at Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong, 21 October, 20:00 are:

Match Commissioner: Rivilla Nazareno (Philippines)
Referee Assessor: D’costa Anthony John (India)
Referee: Mohammad Omar Al Saeedi (Oman)
Assistant Referee 1: Ahmad Nasser Bahrooz (UAE)
Assistant Referee 2: Mohammad Abdulla Jassim (UAE)
Fourth Official: Fareed Al Marzouqi (UAE)

Interestingly, referees from China make up the majority of the match officials for the other AFC Cup 2009 semi-final second leg:
Al Karamah (Syria) vs Becamex Binh Duong (Vietnam)
Khaled Ibn Al Waleed Staduim, Homs, 21 October, 19:30.

Match Commissioner: Mazen Ramadan (Lebanon)
Referee Assessor: Ali Bujsaim (UAE)
Referee: Tan Hai (China)
Assistant Referee 1: Tuo Wei Ming (China)
Assistant Referee 2: Huo Jige (China)
Fourth Official: Zhao Liang (China)