Female coach loses 7-0 in ACL bow
You’re an underdog team, playing away to one of the most successful sides in Asia. Barely 30 minutes have gone, you’re already trailing 3-0, and now you’re down to nine men after a second defender has been sent off.
It was a tough initiation as Chan Yuen-ting became the first female coach to lead a men’s side in a continental competition on Wednesday, with Hong Kong’s Eastern SC facing Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Guangzhou Evergrande in the AFC Champions League (ACL).
The match, which ended in a 7-0 victory for the home side, saw the novices from the former British colony run through the gamut of emotions before 38,631 fans at Tianhe Stadium.
“We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry,” said Eastern’s Australian defender Josh Mitchell. “It was an incredible experience to be playing in the ACL for the first time in Guangzhou, but everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong.”
The image of 68-year-old World Cup-winner Scolari consoling 28-year-old Chan at full-time created a unique moment in Asian football history.
The Brazilian would later reveal that he told Chan that the game was “not a reflection of the true quality of the two sides” because of the numerical advantage that two-time ACL winners enjoyed for almost an hour.
Mitchell, a former Chinese Super League centre-back who joined Eastern last year, agreed that the heavy defeat shouldn’t be seen as a reflection on Chan’s quality as a coach. Within the club, Chan is known by her endearing nickname of Aw Yuen (“beef ball” in Cantonese).
“She’s great and she’ll bounce back. I’m sure she would have been up late after the match, taking notes and trying to make us better for the next game,” Mitchell said.
“She’s positive, thorough, passionate, and just wants to learn. Sometimes I have to stop myself to remember that she’s actually younger than the average age of our squad, which is around 30, but she’s very good.”
As much as it might seem absurd to praise a backline that conceded three goals before half-time and four after the break, Mitchell and goalkeeper Yapp Hung Fai earned praise for keeping the score under double figures. Yapp, Eastern and Hong Kong captain, made a series of remarkable saves to deny Guangzhou strikers Alan Carvalho and Ricardo Goulart.
Mitchell started as one of three central defenders as Eastern looked to absorb pressure away from home, with five at the back. Left-back Wong Tsz-Ho was shown a red card for a handball after three minutes before centre-back Wong Chi-Chung received his marching orders in the 34th minute after picking up a second yellow.
Making the decisions was another Australian in referee Chris Beath, with whom Mitchell crossed paths during his A-League days with Perth Glory and Newcastle Jets. Mitchell protested strongly as Beath reached for his cards after Wong had tugged the shirt of Guangzhou forward Gao Lin.
“I thought it was bit harsh as Gao had lost the ball and went to ground, looking for a card,” Mitchell said.
“Suddenly, we’re down to nine men against superstars who earn more individually than we do as an entire team, so in complete damage control. To make things worse, our Brazilian centre-back Roberto had food poisoning — he fainted after the game — so that made it even more difficult for us.
“We played in two banks of four and tried to hold them out. In the end, Guangzhou’s quality shone through, but the score would have been more, if not for our goalkeeper, who was exceptional.”
It was Mitchell’s third visit to Guangzhou Evergrande, having faced them in the Chinese Super League during his two seasons with Lioning Whowin. The 32-year-old also played for four years in Romania with Universitatea Craiova.
Eastern earned their place in this year’s ACL after winning the 2015-16 Hong Kong Premier League, becoming the first men’s team to claim a top flight title under a female coach. Chan lost only one league match after taking over midseason.
Eastern, who are top of the 201617 table, will have a league match against Hong Kong Sapling on Saturday before hosting Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale in the ACL next Wednesday.