Nicholas Medeiros: Giving up Chilean citizenship to obtain Hong Kong citizenship and fulfill my professional football dream

In the second season of competing in the Hong Kong Premier League, Sham Shui Po, experienced a slow start with a series of personnel controversies. However, the team has recently started to bounce back from their slump. At the end of January, they defeated Hong Kong Football Club in the Sapling Cup, and in early March, they achieved their first victory against Kitchee in the league, marking their return to the top professional level. In that game, left winger Nicholas Medeiros scored a hat-trick and was awarded the Best Player of the Match.

Both of Nicholas’s parents are Bolivian, and his father also holds Chilean citizenship. He works as a football coach in Hong Kong. Nicholas, along with his brother Oscar Medeiros, was born in Hong Kong. Influenced by their father, they developed a strong interest in football from a young age. On weekends, they would occasionally go to the park with their dad to practice. With the encouragement of their grandfather, Nicholas diligently trained his left foot and became one of the few players in the team who can skillfully use both feet. He began his youth career at the Barça Academy and has played for various teams, from the Outlying Islands to Lee Man, until the U18 level. Nicholas said, “After finishing my youth career, I had thought about moving up to the first team. However, at that time, I still didn’t have a Hong Kong permanent identity card, so I would have had to register as a foreign player. In the end, I didn’t receive any notification from the team.”

Nicholas played for Lee Man in youth (provided by the interviewee)

Self-recommendation

After leaving the Lee Man youth training, Nicholas Medeiros had a long period without participating in official Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) matches and could only play in amateur friendly leagues. One time, after a match at Hong Kong Football Club, Nicholas saw Sham Shui Po, who was still in the First Division at that time, warming up on the sidelines for a friendly match. “I had always wanted to leave the amateur league, and when I saw Deep Water Bay warming up, I asked my girlfriend if I should go and offer myself. Encouraged by her, I nervously went to introduce myself to Coach Ko (Ko Chun-ki). They probably found it odd to see me approaching them. Later, the team arranged for me to play in a friendly match against Eastern District. The coach was surprised that a player who had never played in the First Division could handle the game. Each team in the First Division is allowed three foreign player slots, and Deep Water Bay hadn’t filled them all yet. So they decided to offer me a contract.”

Nicholas started playing for Sham Shui Po in the 2020-21 season, and in the 2021-22 season, the First Division was suspended due to the pandemic. When the league resumed with the Senior Shield, Nicholas helped the team reach the final but ultimately finished as the runners-up to Tai Po. “I was very disappointed at the time and thought I had missed the opportunity for promotion. One or two weeks later, the club suddenly announced that we would be promoted to the Premier League. At first, I was worried if the team still needed me, but they quickly contacted me, and I readily agreed.”

Nicholas’s professional football dream began with the new season in the Hong Kong Premier League. However, the team’s performance after promotion was extremely poor, winning only 3 matches, drawing 3, and losing the rest, including some heavy defeats. “This platform is completely different from the First Division, and it’s expected to be challenging in the first season. I rarely pay attention to the criticisms from the media or let them affect me as a player. However, I know for myself what areas I did well in and need to improve. After experiencing matches against each team, I started to understand their characteristics and learned much more.”

Nicholas has been playing in Sham Shui Po since the First Division League (provided by the interviewee)

Hat Trick

This season, Sham Shui Po has also had a difficult start. After a series of controversies, they invited coach Chan Ho-yin to take charge as the head coach. Since then, there has been some improvement in their performance. They pushed Kitchee to extra time in the Senior Shield and advanced to the semi-finals of the FA Cup by winning a penalty shootout against South China. However, their performance in the league and the Elite Cup remains unstable. In the middle of the season, they added several new players such as Souza and Ngue. With no matches in February, they focused on targeted training and physical conditioning. “I hadn’t had the chance to watch Souza play before, so I’m happy to be his teammate. Of course, we play in the same position, so there might be competition or substitution, but it’s also a motivation to push myself and improve. We are teammates and will encourage each other.”

After a month-long break, their first match was against Eastern Long Lions, and Deep Water Bay displayed their best performance since promotion. Nicholas Medeiros scored a hat-trick with assists from Chang Kwong-yin, Ismael Dunga, and Ngan Cheuk-pan. “In the first round, we lost 0-9 to Eastern Long Lions, so initially, it was frustrating. But with the addition of new players, the situation has changed. Leung Hing-kit (09) joined us from Rangers, which gave us a lot of confidence. He also encouraged us to be a united team before the game. This match was one of the most remarkable games for me. However, football changes quickly, and one game won’t immediately give me the opportunity to be selected for the Hong Kong national team. I have to maintain my level in future matches.”

Hong Kongers

Nicholas Medeiros was born and raised in Hong Kong. At home, he communicates with his parents in English or Spanish. However, growing up in local schools in Hong Kong, he also became fluent in Cantonese. Despite holding Chilean citizenship, Nicholas gave up his Chilean passport at the beginning of this season, allowing him to officially register as a local player. “In the past, my dad didn’t want me to give up my Chilean nationality, and my mom mentioned that I could go to Bolivia in the summer to train. But I never thought about seeking work in South America. After all, I have always lived in Hong Kong and consider myself a Hongkonger. I don’t want to leave and give up everything in Hong Kong. When I grew up, my parents let me make my own decisions. For me, applying for a Hong Kong SAR passport makes this path easier as I start my professional football career in Hong Kong.”

In the past two years, after completing a part-time associate degree program, Nicholas has no immediate plans for further studies and is fully dedicated to being a football player. “My current goal is to improve each week compared to the previous week. The football world changes rapidly, and you have to work hard to maintain your performance. In the long run, I hope to have the opportunity to participate in higher-level leagues and continue to be a professional football player for ten to fifteen years. This has been my dream since I was young.”