Former North Korea coach takes on Hong Kong job

HONG KONG: Norwegian former international striker Jorn Andersen, who was in charge of North Korea’s football team in 2016-2018, was named Hong Kong’s coach on Saturday.

The 58-year-old most recently managed Incheon United in South Korea but before that spent two years coaching isolated North Korea, winning eight of his 14 matches.

Hong Kong are 147th of 210 teams in the FIFA world rankings and Andersen will attempt to guide them to the 2023 Asian Cup in China.

“I hope to use my experience and tactical philosophy in building a strong and competitive team for upcoming international matches,” Andersen, who succeeds Finland’s Mixu Paatelainen, said in a Hong Kong Football Association statement.

Andersen’s final game with North Korea was a 2-0 win over Hong Kong which took the Koreans into the 2019 Asian Cup.