Melbourne Victory has arrived in Hong Kong and been put through its paces in a training session at the Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground, ahead of the club’s match against the China national team this evening.

Victory sent a 17-man squad to Hong Kong for China’s last hit out before the AFC Asian Cup, and assistant coach Aaron Healey says the team has settled in well, despite weather conditions of around 30° Celsius and 90 percent humidity.

“The flight getting across here was good and we got up yesterday morning with no problems,” Healey said. “It’s quite warm, but it’s very overcast and sultry.”

China, who defeated the FIFA World Stars 2-0 on Sunday, will be looking for a solid performance against Victory before traveling to Kuala Lumpur to face Iran, Uzbekistan and Malaysia in Group C of the 2007 AFC Asian Cup.

“They’re a good side and they’re pretty keen to put on a good show,” Healey added.

Victory is using the tour to prepare for the upcoming Hyundai A-League season and the 2008 AFC Champions League, which new signing Matthew Kemp has already experienced with Adelaide United.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to sample what it will be like in the AFC Champions League as far as conditions and the way in which Asian teams play their football.

“Matthew Kemp will be playing his first game and he’s one that’s had a bit of AFC Champions League experience, but he’s coming off limited preparation and this is a game for him to understand how we play.”

The same limited preparation applies to young recruit Kaz Patafta, who took part in his first training session with the squad in Hong Kong yesterday afternoon.

“It’s his first game and he’s straight into a match against China, which is a fairly big ask,” Healey said, “We’re just hoping he gets plenty of the ball and he can showcase what he’s all about, but we’re not expecting too much of him straight away.

“He doesn’t know his team-mates as well as he’s going to at the start of the season, so as long as he gets plenty of the ball and enjoys himself, that’s all we’re worried about at the moment.”

Despite the absence of Archie Thompson, Grant Brebner and Carlos Hernandez, recent recruits Ljubo Milicevic and Joseph Keenan will look to combine with Adrian Caceres and Danny Allsopp up front as Healey and coach Ernie Merrick concentrate on the performance of the squad, rather than the result.

Victory will take on China at Siu Sai Wan Stadium, Hong Kong at 6:30pm local time this evening. The match will be open to the public, with a small number of Victory fans en route to the AFC Asian Cup expected to support the club in its first match against a national team.

Following the encounter, Victory will travel to face Chinese Super League side Tianjin Teda for the Mayors’ Cup at Tianjin Teda Stadium on Saturday night, before returning to Australia for its first match of the 2007 Pre-Season Cup against Adelaide United on July 15.

China v Melbourne Victory
Wednesday, 4 July, 2007
Siu Sai Wan Stadium, Hong Kong

Melbourne Victory squad: 1. Michael THEOKLITOS (gk), 2. Kevin MUSCAT (captain), 3. Daniel PIORKOWSKI, 4. Adrian LEIJER, 5. Ljubo MILICEVIC, 6. Steve PANTELIDIS, 7. Matthew KEMP, 9. Danny ALLSOPP, 11. Joseph KEENAN, 12. Rodrigo VARGAS, 13. Kaz PATAFTA, 14. Adrian CACERES, 15. Steve HATZIKOSTAS*, 17. Daniel VISEVIC*, 18. Leigh BROXHAM, 20. Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk), 21. Matthew THEODORE*
* supplementary player for matches against China and Tianjin Teda

China squad: 1. LI Leilei (gk), 2. DU Wei, 3. SUN Xiang, 4. ZHANG Yaokun, 5. LI Weifeng, 6. SHAO Jiayi, 7. SUN Jihai, 8. LI Tie, 9. HAN Peng, 10. ZHENG Zhi (captain), 11. DONG Fangzhuo, 12. ZHAO Xuri, 13. ZHANG Shuai, 14. ZHU Ting, 15. WANG Dong, 16. JI Mingyi, 17. QU Bo, 18. ZHOU Haibin, 19. ZHENG Bin, 20. MAO Jianqing, 21. WANG Peng, 22. YANG Jun (gk), 23. CAO Yang