Hong Kong's 'Beef Ball' takes bite out of gender gap
長，率いる coach of Eastern FC, Chan Yuen-ting, 会談 to her players during a training 開会／開廷／会期 in Hong Kong
Hong Kong's Chan Yuen-ting will 粉砕する another 穴を開ける through football's glass 天井 when she makes history in the AFC 支持する／優勝者s League on Wednesday -- but it couldn't be a tougher debut for the trailblazing 女性（の） coach.
Chan, 愛称d "Beef Ball" and just 28 years old, will etch her 指名する in the 記録，記録的な／記録する 調書をとる／予約するs as the first woman 世界的な to lead a professional men's team into 大陸の 競争, at the 舵輪／支配 of Hong Kong's Eastern.
The game is not far from Hong Kong, in southern 本土／大陸 中国 -- but it is against Guangzhou Evergrande, the mega-rich "Manchester 部隊d of Asia" with two 支持する／優勝者s League 肩書を与えるs and six straight 国内の トロフィーs to their 指名する.
But for Chan, who last year became the first 女性（の） coach to 勝利，勝つ a 最高の，を越す-flight men's league, it will be an honour to 直面する Evergrande and their World Cup-winning 経営者／支配人, Brazil's Luiz Felipe Scolari.
"I never imagined or 推定する／予想するd this could happen but now we're going to play against him so I feel excited and I'm looking 今後 to 会合 him," she told the Asian Football 連合 (AFC) webs ite.
Chan Yuen-ting will etch her 指名する in the 記録，記録的な／記録する 調書をとる／予約するs as the first woman 世界的な to lead a professional men's team into 大陸の 競争, at the 舵輪／支配 of Hong Kong's Eastern FC
"All I need to do is 焦点（を合わせる） on our team and concentrate on the work that we are doing."
Chan's ground-breaking 2016 Hong Kong 肩書を与える with Eastern made headlines around the globe, and earned her the AFC's coach of the year award and a place in a BBC 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of the world's 100 most 影響力のある women.
Eastern then became Hong Kong's first club to be 手渡すd an (a)自動的な／(n)自動拳銃 寝台／地位 in the 支持する／優勝者s League group 行う／開催する／段階, thanks to the 最近の 業績／成果s of the city's teams in AFC 競争s.
Chan said Eastern would concentrate on defending on Wednesday -- understandably, against a team which can call on the Brazilian firepower of Paulinho, Ricardo Goulart and Alan.
- 'I forget my gender' -
"We need to 焦点（を合わせる） on defence, and 特に our discipline and 態度 during the match," Chan said.
"At this moment I don't want to create extra 圧力 for mysel f and my players so we just want to do our best and try to go as far as we can."
Chan, whose 愛称 "Beef Ball" 言及するs to her 競争の激しい spirit and is often 詠唱するd by Eastern's fans, first caught the football bug when she was 13 and had a 鎮圧する on David Beckham.
She followed Manchester 部隊d games on TV and her passion 結局 led her into coaching, にもかかわらず 対立 from her parents.
"On the pitch I forget my gender as a woman. I just hope to show my abilities," Chan told AFP last year. "I think no 事柄 your age or your gender, what you need is hard work."
Hong Kong Football 協会 長，指導者 (n)役員／(a)執行力のある 示す Sutcliffe said Chan had become a 向こうずねing light for women 伴う／関わるd in sport across the world.
"We are proud that Hong Kong has 供給するd an 適切な時期 for a 女性（の） coach to operate at the highest level," Sutcliffe told AFP.
"I am sure she will 行為／法令／行動する as an inspiration for women in sport across the world," he said, 追加するing: "(But) let's not kid ourselves - it's going to be very, very 堅い."
Evergrande will be gunning for their third 支持する／優勝者s League 肩書を与える in five years, and as an 追加するd incentive real-広い地所 億万長者 club chairman Hui Kayan has 申し込む／申し出d a 300 million yuan ($43.68 million) 特別手当 per 勝利，勝つ in the tournament.
But whatever the result on Wednesday, the debut of Chan and Eastern will remain a 重要な moment for women in football, and for the sport in Asia.
"It is a ground-breaking moment for football in Asia, for the women's game and for the 全世界の game," said AFC 大統領，／社長 Sheikh Salman 貯蔵所 Ebrahim Al Khalifa.
"The world will be watching."
