The young Hong Kong player who has received personal guidance from Andres Iniesta and Ilkay Gundogan has been forced to put his career on hold because of the Iran war.
Ryan Fok Jun-hei was in Dubai, where he plays for Gulf United, when the war broke out a day after he turned 19 on February 27.
“It was scary the first few days but you get used to it,” Fok said.
“An alert sounds whenever there is a missile threat and you stay inside. The UAE defense system is very good; we believed that nothing would happen and we continued to play and practice. Part of the concern is the possibility of debris falling on you.”
Fok’s parents were briefly stuck in Dubai after traveling to celebrate their son’s birthday with him, but the family left in mid-March when Ryan joined Hong Kong’s under-20 training camp in Thailand.
He is training with personal trainers in his home city while waiting for permission to return to the United Arab Emirates.
