Uzbekistan boss slams ‘dangerous’ Mong Kok Stadium, questions integrity of Hong Kong World Cup group
- Head coach Srecko Katanec launches furious attack on city pitch despite watching his side cruise to a 2-0 win
- Goalscorer Eldor Shomurodov also raises concerns over playing surface at compact ground, which seats just 6,000
Uzbekistan head coach Srecko Katanec and star striker Eldor Shomurodov have launched a furious attack on Hong Kong’s choice of venue for their World Cup qualifier and said it threatened the integrity of the competition.
The visitors cruised to a 2-0 win over the city’s side, but that did little to quell the anger over the match being switched from Hong Kong Stadium to the far smaller Mong Kok Stadium.
Katanec and Shomurodov, who claimed Mong Kok’s small playing surface was dangerous for players, were already angry at having to play on an artificial pitch in their previous World Cup away fixture, a 3-1 victory in Turkmenistan in November.
Hong Kong staged their opening group fixture against Turkmenistan at the main stadium, and will return to the 40,000-seat venue for their final home World Cup qualifier against Iran in June.
Shomurodov, who scored Uzbekistan’s opening goal and was the game’s stand-out player, asked to address the media following the away team’s post-match press conference.
He began by questioning why his side’s match in Turkmenistan was played at Ashgabat Stadium, rather than the traditional national team venue of Kopetdag Stadium, then turned his fire on the administrators who chose Mong Kok to host Uzbekistan.
“Hong Kong played their previous matches on a different field, now they play here,” said Shomurodov, who is on loan to Cagliari in Serie A.
“We respect Hong Kong, all the teams, and the decision of the AFC [Asian Football Confederation].
“But we want to mention it is dangerous for the health of the players. This is qualifying for the World Cup, and we want the AFC and Fifa to check the quality of the stadiums and the fields. It is dangerous, in terms of [potential] injuries.”
Katanec alluded to his dissatisfaction with the venue, which has room for just 6,664 fans, on the eve of the match.
Following his team’s ultimately comfortable win, the Slovenian was more forthright with his views, and complained that, at 64 metres wide, the pitch was far smaller than Hong Kong Stadium, which measures 74 metres.
“If you allow Hong Kong to play on those kinds of fields, it creates problems for the away team,” he said. “We are talking like this because the rules are not the same for everyone. Iran are playing on the normal field, we have to play there, too.”
Jorn Andersen, the Hong Kong head coach, gave short shrift to the Uzbek complaints.
Breaking into a grin, the Norwegian said he heard about the visitors’ grievances the previous day “when I spoke with the coach”.
Andersen, who had his own pitch issues when he accused Iran of treating Hong Kong with “no respect” after providing inadequate training facilities in November, said: “He told me, ‘we do not like the stadium, we feel it is too small, and the field is not good’.
“But he can go to India or Iran and see pitches much worse.”
An element of Katanec’s disquiet stemmed from the ability of Hong Kong midfielder Wu Chun-ming to send throw-ins as far as the six-yard box.
The only concern during the match for the 60-year-old, who was a midfield teammate of Italian greats Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Vialli in Sampdoria’s Italian champion team of 1991, was his side’s inability to capitalise on their first-half dominance.
“It is clear we were the better team, but if you do not take your chances, they can score one goal, and, with the home crowd, everything changes psychologically for my team,” he said. “Fortunately, it did not happen, but I was afraid, because … I have lost many of those types of games.”
The teams meet again in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, on Tuesday, and Katanec added: “Hong Kong are a solid team, and we will not slow down next week.”
