1985 China v Hong Kong football match
| Event | 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC first round | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Hong Kong qualifies for the final round of qualification. | |||||||
| Date | 19 May 1985 | ||||||
| Venue | Workers' Stadium, Beijing | ||||||
| Referee | Melvyn D'Souza (India) | ||||||
| Attendance | 80,000 | ||||||
China v Hong Kong was a 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification match played on 19 May 1985, noteworthy in that the surprise result caused deep dissatisfaction and hooliganism among Mainland Chinese football fans, leading to the match being immortalised as the 19 May Incident or 5.19 incident (Chinese: 五一九事件).[1]
Needing a victory to advance, Hong Kong achieved a stunning 2–1 win to eliminate heavily-favoured China, with goals from Cheung Chi Tak in the 19th minute and Ku Kam Fai in the 60th minute. Indian referee Melvyn D'Souza officiated the match, which was described by commentators at the time as being played in an unusually intense (for an Asian World Cup qualifier) manner. After the loss, disgruntled home fans rioted in the Workers' Stadium and the People's Armed Police were needed to restore order. Due to the high stakes, the match was one of the most notable in the rivalry between the China and Hong Kong national football teams.
Background
China were the runners-up of the 1984 AFC Asian Cup and expected to be by far the strongest team in its 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification AFC Zone B first round group.
China and Hong Kong had met earlier in the tournament, playing out a scoreless draw in Hong Kong.
They entered the final match tied on points; however, China held the advantage in goal differential due to larger margins of victory over the group's other two teams, Brunei and Macau.
Thus, in order to advance to the next round, Hong Kong would need an unlikely away win in the Chinese capital.
Table before the match
After 12 May 1985, the group 4A table was as follows:
| Legend |
|---|
| Cannot qualify |
| # | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  China
|
5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0 | +22 | 9 |
| 2 |  Hong Kong
|
5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 1 | +16 | 9 |
| 3 |  Macau
|
6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 15 | −11 | 4 |
| 4 |  Brunei
|
6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 29 | −27 | 0 |
China qualifies for second round with win or draw.
Hong Kong qualifies for second round with win only.
Match
Summary
The Chinese team began the game on the offensive, determined to achieve a win rather than a draw. However, Hong Kong scored the first goal in the 19th minute, when during a free kick, Wu Kwok Hung backheeled the ball to Cheung Chi Tak, who shot and scored from well outside the penalty area.
China equalized twelve minutes later, when Li Hui scored off a rebound from Hong Kong's goalkeeper. In the second half, the Chinese players went on the attack again, and in doing so allowed more chances for Hong Kong to score. This culminated in Hong Kong's second goal, when Ku Kam Fai scored at the 60 minute mark. China took several shots over the game's final half-hour but we unable to score, resulting in a 2–1 victory for Hong Kong.[2]
Details
| China | 1–2 | Hong Kong |
|---|---|---|
Li Hui  31' |
Cheung Chi Tak 19' Ku Kam Fai 60' |
          China PR
|
     Hong Kong
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aftermath
Result
| Legend |
|---|
| Qualified directly for the next round |
| # | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hong Kong
|
11 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 2 | +17 |
| 2 | China
|
9 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 2 | +21 |
| 3 | Macau
|
4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 15 | −11 |
| 4 | Brunei
|
0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 29 | −27 |
Hong Kong advances to Zone B Second Round.
In the AFC Zone B Second Round (AFC semifinals), Hong Kong faced another heavy favorite in a two-legged matchup with Japan. They quickly allowed two goals in the first leg in Japan, eventually falling 3–0.
They performed better in the second leg at home, but missed a penalty and lost 2–1. Japan advanced to the Zone B Final Round, 5–1 on aggregate score.
| 11 August 1985 | Japan  | 3–0 | Hong Kong | Kobe, Japan |
| Hara 9' (pen.) Kimura 11' Mizunuma 53' |
Referee: Gurkan (Philippines) |
| 22 September 1985 | Hong Kong | 1–2 | Japan | Hong Kong |
| Wan Chi Keung 80' |
Kimura 45' Hara 89' |
Referee: Lee Kok Leong (Singapore) |
For China, the result represented another frustrating setback in their quest to qualify for their first World Cup finals.
In the qualifying tournament for the 1982 edition, they had lost to New Zealand by the same score in a winner-take-all match to qualify for the World Cup Finals. It would not be until 2002 that China would finally qualify for their first FIFA World Cup.
Hooliganism incident
This match also led to "the first incident of football hooliganism in the history of the People's Republic of China".[3]
While Hong Kong's team received a hero's welcome upon their return, disgruntled mainlanders rioted in and around Workers' Stadium after the match. The People's Armed Police were called to restore order, leading to 127 arrests.[4]
Zeng Xuelin, manager of the Chinese national team, and Li Fenglou, chairman of the Chinese Football Association, both resigned.
References
- ^ "The 5.19 incident: China's doomed attempt to qualify for Mexico '86". wildeastfootball.net. 5 October 2017. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017.
- ^ Legge, James (26 August 2020). "The 'May 19 Incident': When Hong Kong football sparked a riot in Beijing". SupChina.
- ^ "中国十大球迷冲突:京豫球迷暴力狂? 5·19震惊世界". Ifeng.com. 13 October 2010.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "《足球之夜》特别节目：5.19 一个时代的缩影(9)_国内足坛-国家队_NIKE新浪竞技风暴_新浪网". sports.sina.com.cn. 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
- (in Chinese) 资料：中国足球“519惨案”
- Database