Defeat, riots and recriminations: China football’s darkest day

Shanghai (AFP) – It is known as the “May 19 Incident” and by some estimations it haunts China’s national football team 35 years on.

On May 19, 1985, China were stunned 2-1 at home by neighbours Hong Kong, then still under British rule, on one of the most infamous nights in Chinese football history. 

It is notorious not just because China’s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup for the first time ended in calamity.

After the match fans in Beijing rioted, smashing cars, attacking buses and threatening foreign journalists and diplomatic staff.

It began an intense rivalry between the two teams which has continued to this day, despite the UK handing back Hong Kong to China in 1997.

Recent World Cup qualifying matches between the two sides have been bad-tempered affairs with Hong Kong fans jeering the Chinese national anthem, which their team shares, since pro-democracy protests broke out in the city in 2014.

– The match –

It was a Sunday night and China needed only a draw to reach the next stage of qualifying for the Mexico 1986 World Cup.

They were expected to beat the minnows from Hong Kong easily, but in front of 80,000 fans at the Workers’ Stadium a complacent China’s hopes of reaching the World Cup collapsed.

With a line-up regarded as one of China’s strongest in the last 40 years, they were level 1-1 at half-time but conceded in the 60th minute when Hong Kong defender Ku Kam-fai smashed in the winner.

As their World Cup hopes faded in the drizzle, Chinese supporters became frustrated by what they saw as Hong Kong’s play-acting and reluctance to attack. 

Cries of “Hong Kong cowards” rang out and the full-time whistle was greeted with stunned silence, followed by the stamping of feet, then fury.

Kwok Ka-ming, Hong Kong’s coach at the time, told AFP ahead of the 35th anniversary of his team’s momentous victory: “In 1984 then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited Beijing and the Joint Declaration was signed (agreeing to return Hong Kong to China).

“So the victory we had in the qualifiers not only meant a lot for football, but also in history.”

– The riot –

Losing was one thing but doing so to “little brother” Hong Kong made it even worse.

“After we won and wanted to return to the changing room, the spectators began to hurl stuff onto the field so we couldn’t make it back to the changing room and had to shelter,” Kwok recalls. 

from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/2Avkblh