Great pains have been taken to reduce the likelihood of supporters from opposing sides meeting.
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But they are taking on one of their own, China.
Despite appeals from officials for the match not to become politicised, hundreds of Hong Kong fans in the stadium booed during the playing of China’s national anthem and held up defiant banners.
“I think the chances of them meeting each other is very, very little”. About 500 away fans are expected. “I urge fans to stay calm… show your sporting spirit”.
The densely packed Mong Kok commercial district was also the scene of the most violent clashes between police and protesters during last year’s “Umbrella movement” pro-democracy rallies.
Hong Kong-listed shares of Citic Securities rose 2.1 percent.
The Shanghai-Hong Kong stocks link can be considered a success because it has expanded the pool of stocks available for global and mainland Chinese traders and allows overseas investors to buy mainland shares without having to tap into their Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor quotas, said Mark Mobius, executive chairman of the Emerging Markets Group at Franklin Templeton Investment.
Hong Kong’s goalkeeper Yapp Hung-fai kept the game goalless amid a Chinese onslaught, a result that China’s manager acknowsledged would now make it a struggle for China to qualify for Russian Federation.
The current AFC World Cup qualifiers is composed of eight groups and the first placed squads in all of the groups will automatically have a berth in the next round of the competition.
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Malaysia’s home game against the United Arab Emirates will be held behind closed doors at Shah Alam Stadium on orders of Federation Internationale de Football Association, after flare-hurling fans forced the hosts to abandon a qualifier against Saudi Arabia in September.
