2012–13 South China AA season
South China AA will seek to win their first trophy for one season after Kitchee won the Hong Kong First Division League, the Hong Kong FA Cup and Hong Kong League Cup while Sunray Cave JC Sun Hei defeated them to win the Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield last season. South China are competing in the First Division League, Senior Shield and FA Cup this season. Review. Pre-season. After an unsuccessful season coached by Slovak Ján Kocian, South China will like to take revenge from Kitchee, who claimed an historic treble as they won  the First Division League, the League Cup and the FA Cup last season. Unlike the previous season, chairman Steven Lo did not say too much about the changes of the team. He even stopped writing blog articles after the team finished their last league game until 9 July 2012. On 9 July 2012, chairman Steven Lo published his first blog articles for the new season. He published the new first team squad and the in-and-out player changes. He also appointed Liu Chun Fai as the new head coach, and allowed former assistant coaches Chan Chi Hong and Chan  Ho Yin to leave the club. The team also started having training on the same day. However, public media are not allowed to go into the training court. South China started having public training on 17 July 2012. Chairman Steven Lo announced that the team would go to Guangdong for training camp. The team started the training camp on 23 July 2012. However, there are no news about the team in training camp and the players did not say anything on the social networking website, until the team published a photo, showing the players watching a football match in Guangdong . Soon after, chairman Steven Lo wrote an article on his blog about the training camp. The team will play total of 6 matches with Guangdong Sunray Cave, which Hong Kong and former South China players Leung Chun Pong and Chan Siu Ki is playing in, during the training camp. By the day that Steven Lo published the blog article, the team had a great result as they won 3 matches and tied once. While the team was having training camp in mainland China, chairman Steven Lo introduced a new player. defender Sean Tse joined the club from English Premier League  club Manchester City for an undisclosed fee. Since he is holding a Hong Kong ID card, he will not be registered and counted as a foreign player. They got their first win in recent 4 pre-season matches on 22 August 2012. Itaparica and Au Yeung Yiu Chung scored once while center defender Joel Bertoti Padilha netted twice, as the club defeated Sun Pegasus 4–0 at Tsing Yi Northeast park. September. South China began the new season at their home ground Hong Kong Stadium, playing against J. League Division 2 club Yokohama F.C.'s satellite team Yokohama FC Hong Kong  on 2 September 2012. Tsuyoshi Yoshitake scored for Yokohama FC Hong Kong at the beginning of the game, but goals from Dhiego de Souza Martins, Itaparica, Ticão and Lee Hong Lim secured the win for the club, although Lee Ka Ho of Yokohama FC Hong Kong scored at the very last minute. Just a week later, South China visited Sunray Cave JC Sun Hei at Mong Kok Stadium. Defender Lee Chi Ho and Brazilian forward Leandro Rodrigues goals was not enough to see off the defending champions of Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield, as Mamadou Barry and Cheung Kwok Ming  equalised the game for Sunray Cave JC Sun Hei. The match ended as a 2–2 tie. They went back to their home against Citizen on 19 September 2012. Lee Chi Ho scored his second goal of the season but Festus Baise equalised 7 minutes later. Winning goal from Itaparica helped the team to win over 2–1. As they start playing the Senior Challenge Shield from the quarterfinals, they had a free weekend, having more time to prepare for the big match against Kitchee a week later at home. Having won the First Division League in the past 2 seasons, Kitchee  had achieved a great result against South China in recent years. Both team struggled to make goalscoring chances in the first half, but the second half was totally a different game. Jonathan Carril's 6-yard strike should have opened the deadlock for Kitchee but his shot hit the bar. Dhiego de Souza Martins scored the winning goal for South China in the stoppage time, thanked a lovely cross from Jack Sealy. This goal also helped the team to climb at the top of the league table. October. Head coach Liu Chun Fai made two changes to his starting XI  for the visit of Wofoo Tai Po in a league match on 7 October 2012. Au Yeung Yiu Chung and Cheng Lai Hin made their first starts of the season. Lee Hong Lim scored two headers while Au Yeung Yiu Chung and Itaparica scored two goals and one goal respectively, which helped the team to stay at the top of the league for another week. This was also the second league clean sheet of the season. Due to the FIFA international match period, South China did not feature any matches for two weeks. Moreover, a number of players was called  up for the international friendly match between Hong Kong and Malaysia. Yapp Hung Fai, Lee Chi Ho, Bai He, Lee Hong Lim and Au Yeung Yiu Chung had played in the friendly match held at Mong Kok Stadium. Back to the league after international match period, South China welcomed Southern, which was at the bottom of the league table before the match, at home. Southern had gained 2 points in last two matches, after going behind in both matches. Although South China dominated the possession and the attacks, they could not manage to score a goal due to the solid  defence of Southern. The club dropped two points and dropped a place to second in the table. South China ended October at the second place of the league table. November. South China began November with an away match against Biu Chun Rangers at Mong Kok Stadium. Thank to goals from Mauro, Dhiego Martins and Chan Wai Ho respectively, they claimed the 3–1 victory on 4 November. Despite winning the match, South China remained at the second place, behind Kitchee. They reclaimed the first place with a tough win at home against Tuen Mun on 11 November, thank to Michael Luk 's and Itaparica's goal. South China faced rivalry club Kitchee in the Senior Challenge Shield at Hong Kong Stadium on 17 November. Midfielder Itaparica's late goal helped the team record an important victory, with Kitchee's defender Liu Quankun was sent off in the stoppage time of the second half. They soon played against each other again one week later on 25 November at Kitchee's home ground Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground. South China successfully kept a clean sheet and eliminated their rival by 1–0 in aggregate, reaching the semi-finals stage of the shield. December. South  China started the new month with a Senior Shield semi-finals 1st leg match against 2011 champions Citizen at home Hong Kong Stadium on 15 December 2013. They suffered their first defeat of the season as they lost 2–3 to Citizen. Mauro's goal in the first half help them take the lead into changing room. However, Man Pei Tak was sent off on the 67th minute and Citizen's Campion, Paulinho and Festus scored three goals in 11 minutes. Lee Wai Lim scored a goal in the stoppage time, making a narrower lead for them. Back into the league , they faced Sun Pegasus at Yuen Long Stadium a week later on 22 December. Goals from Kwok Kin Pong, Cheng Lai Hin and Lee Wai Lim, all in the second half, helped secure the victory for them. 4 days later on 26 December, South China travelled to Mong Kok Stadium and faced Citizen for the FA Cup first round 1st leg match. An easy win by 2–0 thank to Dhiego Martins and Au Yeung Yiu Chung in the second half, as well as the second red card from Chiu Chun Kit. January. South China travelled to Mong Kok Stadium and  faced Citizen for the Senior Shield semi-finals 2nd leg, their first game in 2013. Although taking the advantage throughout the game, they failed to score and was eliminated by Citizen in aggregate. A week later on 13 January, South China hosted Citizen at home Hong Kong Stadium for the FA Cup first round 2nd leg match. They scored five goals in the match, with Au Yeung Yiu Chung scoring twice and Alessandro Celin, Michael Luk and Mauro scoring once. They defeated Citizen by 5–1, conceding one goal from Sandro's penalty kick. Back into the league, South China faced  Wofoo Tai Po at Hong Kong Stadium on 18 January. More or less the same as last week, they defeated Wofoo Tai Po 5–1, securing themselves in the first place of the league table. A week later on 26 January, they overcame Biu Chun Rangers from 1 goals down and scored 6 goals later. February. South China started a new month and hosted a league match against Sun Pegasus at Hong Kong Stadium on 2 February. Jaimes McKee converted a penalty kick on the 10th minute and leading South China for almost all the game. A controversial goal from Dhiego  Martins in the stoppage time help South China avoid losing all three points. Two weeks later on 17 February, South China faced Sunray Cave JC Sun Hei for the FA Cup quarter-finals 1st leg match at Hong Kong Stadium. Goals from Au Yeung Yiu Chung, Ticão and Itaparica helped secure a 3–1 victory for them. Players. First team. Out on Loan. Player with dual nationality