Ex-Sturm Graz star Jantscher’s Hong Kong exit down to personal reasons, no fallout after forward left out of Kitchee side
- Jakob Jantscher has 10 goals from 23 appearances for Kitchee after joining from Sturm Graz in August
- Hong Kong Premier League champions chasing nap-hand of honours, host North District on Saturday
Jakob Jantscher is intent on completing an all-conquering campaign in Hong Kong, after the forward confirmed he would leave Kitchee at the end of the season.
The former Sturm Graz player joined the reigning champions in August, but despite lavishing praise on the conditions at the club decided to end his short stay to return to his homeland of Austria, “because I am a guy who loves to be around my family”.
“The facilities are top, absolutely perfect, Kitchee is very professional, and much better than some clubs in Austria,” Jantscher said. “I really love the club, but some private things [govern career decisions].
“My dog died after 14 years, and my grandparents are not in a good condition. After 18 years as a professional footballer, you think, ‘Is it worth one more year outside Austria?’
“I am leaving because of my family, it is not about the club.”
A club spokesman said Jantcher’s exclusion at the weekend was not related to his comments, but because he had played 90 minutes against Tai Po soon after a six-week injury layoff.
Jantscher has 10 goals in 23 appearances for Kitchee, who are targeting success in the Premier League, FA Cup and Sapling Cup, to add to the Senior Shield and inaugural HKPLC Cup already in the cabinet.
“I play football to get to the maximum, which means winning as much as possible,” Jantscher said. “In Hong Kong, you have the chance to win five titles, and I will do everything to get all of them.”
Jantscher won a league championship with Red Bull Salzburg in Austria, where he also had two spells with Sturm Graz, as well as stings in Russia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Turkey during an itinerant career.
The 35-year-old also contradicted common wisdom by talking up the standard of the local Premier League.
His team host sixth-placed North District on Saturday, when victory would lift them two points clear of Lee Man at the league summit, having played one game more.
Kitchee nearly made a mess of the reverse fixture in December, grimly clinging on to win 3-2, after leading 3-0 at half-time. The teams also traded victories in the Sapling Cup group stage.
“I honestly think there are very good teams behind Lee Man and Kitchee,” Jantscher said. “Every team can run, and is good tactically, and anybody can beat anybody.”
Jantscher advocated more 7.45pm or 8pm midweek kick-offs to boost sparse attendance figures, because “in Hong Kong you see people working long hours, so it is sometimes difficult to get to games”.
“I hope something happens to give football a push, so more people come and support the matches,” he added. “We have some very entertaining games.”
Regardless of fighting on all domestic fronts, Kitchee’s football this season has often looked disjointed and pedestrian. Individual quality means they get away with it in Hong Kong, but their AFC Asian Champions League [ACL] campaign yielded only four points from six games. Jantscher was the Hongkongers’ star turn, scoring four times.
A recent report from Fifpro, the global footballers’ union, criticised the standard of the ACL, and called the competition unsustainable. This year’s Hong Kong champions, meanwhile, will enter a new, second-rung ACL 2.
“The Champions League was a nice experience, because it is special to play the top Asian teams,” Jantscher said. “By the end of the group matches, we were improving, and reaching that level.
“It is valuable for the young players ... they see the quality of those teams, their first touch, and how they pass and play. I was also happy it gave me the chance to see some new countries.”
