Kitchee All Stars

Group: A

Seeded: 5-10

Founded: 1931

Home: Mong Kok Stadium, Mong Kok, Hong Kong

 

As they make their Soccer Sevens debut, Kitchee All Stars are expected to continue a tradition of strong local sides in the Masters Tournament, embodied by the crowd-pleasing possession football embodied by Eastern Salon Top Class, who aren’t competing in 2015.

The introduction of the Kitchee All Stars has even raised the possibility of Kitchee winning a Main and Masters ‘double’, likely to be out of reach for amateur outfits like hosts Hong Kong Football Club and Singapore Cricket Club, who also field teams in both tournaments.

Kitchee All Stars are expected to challenge the top four seeds for a place in the Masters Cup semi-finals, especially if the final squad lives up to its early promise.

Roberto Losada, Kitchee’s star striker when they won the back-to-back league titles in 2011 and 2012, helped the first team win the 2011 Soccer Sevens and was being lined up for the All Stars along with outgoing Kitchee coach Jose Molina and his former Spain teammate Vicente Engonga. Former Hong Kong international Ricky Cheng was also included in a provisional squad.

Kitchee’s first team won the Main Tournament in 2011 and even led last year’s Cup final before losing to Manchester City. Founded in 1931, Kitchee have usurped South China as Hong Kong’s strongest club in recent years and recently won the league for the fourth time in five seasons.