Hong Kong Takes Guangdong-Hong Kong Soccer Cup

Hong Kong League XI was held to a 1-1 draw by Guangdong Sunday in the second leg of the 22nd Guangdong-Hong Kong Soccer Cup but Hong Kong regained the cup with a 2-1 victory on aggregate over the two legs.

Guangdong has kept the Cup six times in a row before and was totally titled 16 times in the two-side traditional contest which was inaugurated in 1979.

Similar to the first and away leg, Hong Kong League XI, nine of first line-up are foreigners, dominated the match with their height and fighting spirit.

Hong Kong League XI, who outclassed Guangdong 1-0 a week ago in the first leg in Guangzhou, had a flying start when forward Gerardo Javier Laterza headed home nine minutes into the match.

But Guangdong made the score 1-1 after substitute Zhang Yuewen caught a long pass from Huang Haibin in the box, slamming the ball home in 30th minute.

The second half saw both sides making a few good chances in the box, but both sides could not capitualize them.

"I am satisfied with my players' performance today, but we lost the trophy because of the bad performance in the first leg," said Guangdong's head coach Cheng Yuliang.


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