Macau’s choi cheers his first international goal

363
Choi Weng Hou
Photo: AFC

Kuching: Scoring his first international goal was an incredible experience for defender Choi Weng Hou who debuted as a starter for his senior national team as Macau drew 1-1 against Sri Lanka in their last AFC Solidarity Cup group stage match on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old (pictured, No20) first donned the national team’s jersey in the AFC U-19 Championship 2010 qualifiers and later got his first senior cap as a substitute during Macau’s FIFA World Cup 2018 preliminary joint qualification campaign.

With Macau confirmed as AFC Solidarity Cup Group B winners going into the Sri Lanka game, coach Tam Iao San made major changes to the starting line-up with Choi among seven players on the bench throughout their previous games in Kuching called up to kick the game off.

The Lankans went into the game with only pride at stake and drew first blood through Kavindu Ishan after just five minutes, but Choi levelled the scores with just five minutes remaining for the Macau side who will face Brunei Darussalam in their semi-final match on Saturday.

“This Sri Lanka game is my first starter’s appearance for the senior national team. I’m grateful to the coach for giving me this chance.

“We were finding our rhythm in the first half but the coach made a few changes in the second period and we began to gel better together and I managed to score in the last minute. And this first international goal felt incredible.

“I’ve watched the two games our semi-final opponents Brunei played and they’re a strong team. I’m sure we’ll be up to the task and I don’t mind, in fact, I do hope I’ll get called up to start again in this match, but it’s all up to the coach, and I will do my best to help my team win this match and advance to the final.”