https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3310624/hong-kong-set-be-denied-young-talent-who-targeting-world-cup-homeland
Hong Kong set to be denied young talent who is targeting World Cup with homeland
Forward who grew up in the city is enhancing his reputation in Germany’s second-tier Bundesliga 2
Hong Kong football chiefs look set to miss out on adding a gifted young attacker to the city’s representative team after he targeted playing in World Cups for his native Switzerland.
Aaron Keller moved to Hong Kong when he was three months old because of his Swiss father’s instructor job with Cathay Pacific.
At the age of 12, he left his family behind to follow his dream of becoming a professional footballer at the German Football Boarding School, where he was a teammate of Michael Udebuluzor – the Hong Kong-born striker who now does play for the city.
Keller, who while in Hong Kong was a pupil at Peak School and then attended Harrow, said he learned to love the game at Hong Kong Football Club, which he joined aged eight. He is still in touch with his old coaches, Wilfred Wong, Nam Nguyen and Mark Grainger.
But he said: “If I wanted to take football seriously, I had to go to Europe and through their system.”
Keller needed around six months to adapt off the field. On it, he was shocked to discover that being “one of the more talented players in Hong Kong” did not translate into matching Germany’s best youngsters, but he improved with high-quality training, coaching and opposition.
About two years ago, the then Hong Kong head coach Jorn Andersen invited Keller back. “It was a huge honour … it’s very cool for Michael to play for Hong Kong, and it made me think about coming, but it wasn’t an option for me,” said Keller, who would have to surrender passports for Switzerland, Germany and his mother’s birth country, Brazil.
Since then, Keller, who is on loan to Bundesliga 2 team SSV Ulm 1846 from third-tier side Unterhaching, has earned four Switzerland under-21 caps, scoring on his debut in Albania last year.
“Switzerland is part of my blood, I feel more connection to the country … although I feel a strong bond with Hong Kong,” Keller said.
After enhancing his reputation during a campaign with Ulm in the “best second tier in the world, along with the English Championship”, Keller has given himself a platform to gain senior recognition in time for next year’s World Cup.
“It’s a dream of mine to play in a World Cup – in football you never know how fast it can go,” Keller said.
Describing himself as a “fast, dynamic player, who is very good at dribbling, and going past opponents one-vs-one”, Keller, who turned 21 on Thursday, is aiming high.
“I’m a big dreamer; when I was young, I wanted to win the Ballon d’Or,” he said. “I’ve always dreamed of playing in the Champions League. I want to get better at this level, reach the Bundesliga in the next few years, then progress from there.”