Updated 2.19pm

THE BARCLAYS ASIA Trophy kicked off in Hong Kong this morning but they didn’t really get the weather for it and the opening game between Sunderland and Spurs is being played on something that resembles a swimming pool.

The pitch didn’t look too bad at first but then the heavens opened:

The locals had obviously checked out the weather forecast and came prepared:

Sunderland midfielder El-Hadji Ba bore the brunt of it during the warm-up:

The officials briefly considered calling the match off:

Mainly because the pitch looked like this:

The game was delayed by half an hour and then, when it finally kicked off, was shortened to 40 minutes a half with an eight-minute break at half-time:

But as John O’Shea can testify, it didn’t get much better:

Sunderland won 3-1 in Hong Kong Stadium. Hosts South China play Manchester City in the day’s second game.

(All pics via @SAFCOfficial)

– Originally published 12.56pm

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