Sean Tse: From the Non-League in England to the Asian Cup with Hong Kong!

The Asian Cup started last weekend in Qatar, with some of English football's biggest names making their way to represent their countries.

The competition was supposed to be held in China in 2023, but due to COVID-19 measures, the tournament got moved to Qatar.

The heavyweights of the tournament, such as Japan and South Korea, have a host of Premier League talent at their disposal, with Tottenham's Son-Heung Min being the standout player at the tournament.

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Unbelievably, the non-league of England is also represented at the tournament, with defender Sean Tse of Northern Premier Division side Radcliffe playing for Hong Kong.

According to @radcliffeboro on X, the English seventh-division side released a statement saying: "Sean Tse has been called up by Hong Kong for their AFC Asian Cup campaign and will therefore be unavailable for the next month."

Picture – X @radcliffeboro

With an English seventh-tier defender in their ranks against elite-level footballers, the Hong Kong team is one of the weakest teams in the tournament, ranking 150^th in the world.

However, the defender playing for Radcliffe has done the rounds at a much higher level of football, spending his youth career with Manchester City and being called up to the Republic of Ireland youth team at under 17's.

Having been born to a father from Hong Kong, Tse spent the early part of his career playing in the Hong Kong Premier League, making over 50 appearances for South China.

Since 2017, the Hong Kong defender has bounced around the Hong Kong Premier League, playing for Tai Po, R&F, and Kitchee, before moving to the Northern Premier League in England in July last year.

In England's seventh tier, Tse has played for Hyde United and Radcliffe, but there is a whole new challenge he must take on at the Asian Cup.

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Having made eight appearances for Hong Kong already in his career, Tse is no stranger to international football, but they face tests against Iran and Palestine after being beaten by the UAE.

Tse had tried to make himself eligible for the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup and then was called up to train with the squad for the 2013 Guangdong–Hong Kong Cup.

In August 2021, the defender received his Hong Kong passport, making him fully eligible to play for the national team. He made his debut against Afghanistan in June 2022.

Picture – Instagram @skktse

After the 3-1 loss to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, Hong Kong will take on World Cup team Iran on Friday and Palestine next Tuesday.

Tse may have his work cut out against Iran, who possesses a deadly firing line that includes Porto's Mehdi Taremi, Brentford's Saman Ghoddos, and former Brighton man Alireza Jahanbakhsh.

The non-league defender and his Hong Kong team will take confidence in their remaining group games, having already beaten 79th-ranked China in a warm-up game on New Year's Day.

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