Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Male: Hong Kong’s Kitchee are boosted by the return of Spanish duo Fernando Recio and Jordi Tarres from injury for Tuesday’s meeting with New Radiant of the Maldives in their Group F AFC Cup tie at Male’s National Stadium.
Defender Recio and forward Tarres (pictured, left) have missed out the last two AFC Cup fixtures after both started the Hong Kong champions’ AFC Cup opener, a 1-0 win over Philippines side Kaya FC.
Since then, Kitchee have lost to Singapore’s Balestier Khalsa and been held to a goalless draw in Hong Kong by Tuesday’s opponents but coach Alex Chu is confident his pair of Spaniards can help put the 2014 semi-finalists back on track.
“The two players who were injured in our first meeting with New Radiant will start the game and it will really help us a lot,” said Chu, who saw his side defeat South China 3-0 in the League Cup final on Saturday.
“We have four or five players who have played before in this stadium and that will absolutely be of benefit to us.
“Although the temperature will be high, which won’t be a good thing for our team, if we can keep the ball and control the game, then I think we can get the three points tomorrow.”
New Radiant, meanwhile, are looking for their first win of the 2016 campaign after draws with Balestier and Kitchee sandwiched a 1-0 defeat to Kaya.
“We are well prepared for this game, but I feel it will be even more difficult than the first leg due to the involvement of the two returning players for Kitchee,” said New Radiant coach Iordan Stoykov.
“We are fully committed to defend our name. We can take home advantage and both the weather and the supporters will help us.
“Football is unpredictable and we will see how things will go tomorrow.”
Group F also sees Balestier host pace-setters Kaya with the home side currently suffering a five-match winless run in all competitions which has been compounded by injuries.
“Robert Pericic is injured, Fadhil Noh is still coming back from injury and is not ready to start while Miroslav Kristic is also not in form,” said Balestier coach Marko Kraljevic, who saw his side lose their most recent outing 1-0 to Tampines Rovers last Thursday.
“Kaya play a good technical game on the ground and have an aggressive midfield, while we have defended well so far, but have problems scoring.
“We must go all out to win the game, especially when we need to improve our performances from the S.League.”
By contrast, Kaya have enjoyed a stellar start to their maiden continental campaign with consecutive 1-0 home wins over New Radiant and Balestier putting them top of the standings.
