Hong Kong to Hold World Cup PreliminaryHong Kong is set to stage the Asian preliminary round Group 3 first round matches of 2002 World Cup from March 4 to 11.It was announced by the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) here Monday. Apart from Hong Kong of China, Qatar, Malaysia and Palestine are the other competing teams in the group. According to the latest world ranking, Qatar, seeded team in the group, ranks at 100, Malaysia at 108 while Hong Kong remains at 123 and Palestine ranks at 173. Among the three visiting teams, Palestine will surely capture great interest of the international media, as this will be their first appearance in the World Cup. In order to strive for the best result in the qualifying round, Hong Kong has started their preparation back in October last year under new head coach Arie van der Zouwen of the Netherlands. The qualifying matches will be staged in three days, starting from the March 4. Hong Kong, China, will play against Palestine on the opening day, followed by Malaysia on the 8th and Qatar on the 11th. After the first round, the four teams will travel to Qatar to compete each other from March 20 to 24 and the winner will enter the Asian finals round to be held in China. |
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