Michael Cheng Lai Hin (; born ) is a former

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker. Cheng was arrested by the ICAC on match fixing charges in 2017 but was subsequently cleared.

Club career

Kitchee

Cheng Lai Hin signed for

Kitchee Kitchee Sports Club (; ; ) is a Hong Kong professional Association football, football club based in Kowloon. It was founded in 1931 and currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. The club has won 12 List of Hong Kong football champion ...

when he was only 18. Cheng Lai Hin was one of the torch bearers for Hong Kong for the 2008 Olympic torch relay in the SAR. On 29 November 2008, in the 2008-09 Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield semi-final, Cheng Lai Hin came on as a substitute and scored Kitchee's second goal, but Kitchee still lost to

Sun Hei SC Sun Hei Sports Club () is a Hong Kong professional football club which currently competes in the Hong Kong Second Division. The club has a long history in playing in the top flight, but decided to self-relegate in the 2013–14 season after de ...

. On 31 May 2010, in the 2010 Singapore Cup, Cheng Lai Hin scored at the 111-minute, from a

Lo Kwan Yee Lo Kwan Yee (, born 9 October 1984) is a former Hong Kong professional footballer who played as a midfielder or a right back and a current football coach. He is currently the assistant coach of Hong Kong Premier League club Rangers. Club car ...

corner against

Beijing Guoan Talent Beijing Guoan Talent Singapore Football Club () was a Chinese professional football club which was formed to play as a foreign team in Singapore's 2010 S.League. The club was a satellite team of the Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan F.C. ...

. His goal helped Kitchee win the match 2:1 and proceed to the quarter finals.

South China

On 8 June 2010, Cheng Lai Hin signed for South China in 2010, following the footsteps of

Chan Siu Ki Chan Siu Ki (; born 14 July 1985) is a Hong Kong professional footballer who plays as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer for the Hong Kong national team with 37 goals. Club career Early career Chan was spotted by the management of Tai ...

. He left Kitchee because coach

Josep Gombau Josep Gombau Balague (born 5 June 1976) is a Spanish professional football manager. He is a former Barcelona youth team coach and has held multiple positions at the club's youth academy. Career Born in Amposta, Tarragona, Catalonia, Gombau w ...

did not think he fitted Kitchee's 4–3–3 formation. He joined South China expecting to be only a reserve to replace the departing Chao Pengfei. South China's

Steven Lo Steven Lo Kit-Sing (, born 8 June 1959) is a Hong Kong and Macanese businessman, investor, filmmaker, and philanthropist. Born in Hong Kong, Steven Lo had his upbringing and education in Macau. After graduation from high school, he worked i ...

compared Cheng favourably to Jong Tae Se of

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

but Cheng himself played down the expectations. In the 2010-11 Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield semi-final against

Tai Po FC Tai Po Football Club () is a Hong Kong professional football club which currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League, the top flight of Football in Hong Kong, Hong Kong football. In the 2018–19 Hong Kong Premier League, 2018–19 seas ...

, Cheng Lai Hin scored twice to help South China win 3:0 and advance to the final. In the 2011 Asian Challenge Cup, Cheng Lai Hin came on as a substitute against

Ulsan Hyundai Ulsan HD FC (), formerly Ulsan Hyundai FC, is a South Korean professional football club based in Ulsan that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i, they joined the K League in 198 ...

in the third place play-off and scored South China's second goal. But South China lost the match 2:4 to finish last. In the

2011 AFC Cup The 2011 AFC Cup was the eighth edition of the AFC Cup, a football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "developing countries" in Asia. Allocation of entries per association *2 teams qualified from eac ...

away game to

East Bengal FC East Bengal Football Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of the Indian football league system. The cl ...

, Cheng Lai Hin scored the second goal for South China, his first goal in the competition, at the 87-minute. The match ended 3:3. In the crucial away leg to

Persipura Jayapura Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Jayapura, or Persipura, is an Indonesia, Indonesian professional association football, football club based in Jayapura, Papua. The club was founded in 1963 and currently competes in the Liga 2 (Indonesia), Liga 2 ...

, a

game, Chan Siu Ki was suspended and Cheng Lai Hin was required to partner

Mateja Kezman Mateja () is a given name, variant of the Greek given name ''Mathias'' ( Matthew). In Serbian, it's a masculine name, while in Croatian and Slovene, it's a feminine name. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Mateja Andrlić (born 199 ...

up front. Kezman claimed he was confident of the partnership with Cheng. But in the end South China lost the match 2:4 and any chance to qualify for the second phase. In his first season at South China, Cheng Lai Hin finished as the top scorer of the club by scoring a total of 7 goals in all local competitions, despite being not a regular starting member, 1 more than

and 2 more than regular starter

Pegasus

Cheng joined

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

in the summer of 2015.

International career

On 20 June 2010, Cheng Lai Hin scored a hat-trick for

Hong Kong national football team The Hong Kong national football team (; recognised as Hong Kong, China by FIFA) represents Hong Kong in international association football, football and is controlled by the Football Association of Hong Kong, China, the governing body for foot ...

in the

2010 Hong Kong–Macau Interport The 66th Hong Kong–Macau Interport was held in Macau on 20 June 2010 and was won by Hong Kong. Squads Hong Kong Head coach: Tsang Wai Chung

. His goals helped Hong Kong win the match 5–1 and claimed the Interport Trophy. On 30 September 2011, Cheng Lai-Hin scored the second goal in the 3:3 draw with

the Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of 7,641 islands, with a total area of roughly 300,000 square kilometers, which ar ...

in the

2011 Long Teng Cup The 2011 Long Teng Cup () was the 2nd staging of the Long Teng Cup, an international List of association football competitions, football competition held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The tournament took place from 30 September to 4 October 2011. Competi ...

Match Fixing Scandal

On 6 October 2016, Cheng was one of six current and former Pegasus players to be taken in for questioning by the ICAC on allegations of match fixing. He was formally charged on 28 June 2017 for conspiracy to defraud and offering an advantage to an agent. On 19 April 2018, Cheng was found not guilty of both charges after the judge ruled that he could not convict him beyond a reasonable doubt.

Honours

Club

;Happy Valley *

Hong Kong First Division The Hong Kong First Division League () is the second-highest division in the Hong Kong football league system. Established in 1908, it is the third oldest in Asia, after Calcutta and Bombay. Moreover, it is the oldest top-flight league system ...

: 2018–19

International

;Hong Kong *

2009 East Asian Games The 2009 East Asian Games, officially known as the V East Asian Games, was an international multi-sport event that hosted by Hong Kong, between 5 December and 13 December 2009. A total of 2,377 athletes from 9 east asia, East Asian national compet ...

Football Event: Gold

Career statistics

Club

''As of 6 December 2006''

International

:''As of 5 October 2011''

References

External links

Cheng Lai Hin
at HKFA * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Lai Hin 1986 births Living people Hong Kong men's footballers Men's association football forwards Hong Kong Rangers FC players Kitchee SC players Hong Kong First Division League players Hong Kong Premier League players Hong Kong FC (football) players South China AA players Hong Kong Pegasus FC players 21st-century Hong Kong sportsmen Happy Valley AA players Hong Kong men's youth international footballers Hong Kong men's international footballers Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games footballers for Hong Kong