Hong Kong football is no preparation for facing Asia’s best, Kitchee ace says

Andrew Russell has quit the Hong Kong national team to focus on family and Kitchee – but said the city’s domestic football left his club ill-equipped for continental competition, which they are set to exit this week.

The centre-back’s decision comes as Kitchee prepare for Wednesday night’s visit to Bangkok United, who inflicted their third AFC Champions League defeat in as many matches a fortnight ago.

“The jump to the Champions League [from Hong Kong football] is too big,” he said. “We have so much time on the ball here, and it is tough trying to implement our style under much more pressure.”

Russell, who turns 36 this month and has 21 caps, was named in head coach Jorn Andersen’s preliminary squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Iran and Turkmenistan.

However, Russell said the schlep home from last month’s preliminary play-off second leg in Bhutan left him “feeling like a zombie for four days”, and he wanted to repay his wife for the “sacrifices she has made”.

He was recalled in September following four years in the international wilderness, but started only once, and played seven minutes of the aggregate victory over Bhutan.

Russell had been apart from his family for long periods during five years playing in mainland China, before returning to Hong Kong with Kitchee in February. He netted his first goal of the season in a 7-0 Senior Shield quarter-final stroll at RCFC on Saturday.

“Being recalled by Hong Kong meant the world to me – [previously] I was constantly overlooked when I felt I should have been selected,” Russell said. “But I did not play as much as I felt I deserved, based on my form at Kitchee and in national team training, and was disappointed with how the last international window unfolded.

“We were back from Bhutan at 6am, and for four days at Kitchee I was a zombie. I cannot afford that.

“I had two days at home when my daughter was born last year, then had to go back to China. We have a three-year-old and a one-year-old, and it is time I paid her back and was there and present.”

Russell said he shared “a long and healthy chat” with Andersen, and was comfortable about foregoing the opportunity of playing in January’s AFC Asian Cup finals in Qatar.

“That might have been a better way to finish,” Russell said. “But everyone can see my position in Jorn’s thinking. I do not agree with it, but it is absolutely his right to pick who he sees fit, and no one can question the results he has achieved.

“I would have been away a long time and missed Sapling Cup games. I know that sounds crazy, but my priority is longevity with Kitchee.”

The champions appointed Kim Dong-jin as interim boss in September, after Alex Chu Chi-kwong paid the price for disjoined performances.

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Kim’s players are evidently buying into a speedy, intricate, possession-based style. Russell scored his team’s fifth goal on Saturday – celebrating by kissing the tattoo on his wrist dedicated to his wife. He said, however, that Kitchee’s training ground provides a sterner test than domestic opponents.

Wednesday’s trip to Bangkok may deliver another shock to the system.

“We have 11-v-11s in training that are harder and more physical and aggressive than league games,” Russell said.

“We never moved out of third gear and could easily have scored 11 or 12. We try to be professional at 4-0 and 5-0, but it gets a bit sloppy.”