Saturday, October 8, 2011

Cambodia off to winning start

Cambodia began with a 2-0 over Laos. Back Row LtoR: Raksmey, Sovan, Yaty, Soksana, Rithy, Laboravy. Front Row: Chhoeurn, Phearith, Sothearath, Pancharong, Saray
Man of the moment Khuon Laboravy gets himself focused before leading the team out
Khuon Laboravy was the difference between the two teams as Cambodia's U-23's put their Laos opponents to the sword in the opening game of the Mekong BIDC Cup, or the MRYUIFTBIDC Cup as it's now affectionately called. Cambodia won 2-0 and Laboravy stood pretty much head and shoulders above everyone else, both in stature, age and ability to create chances, as the Laos coach, Veunsavanah Sivisay, acknowledged after the match. "Cambodia were stronger than my team, especially number 11 (Laboravy). He was the difference, he was fast and simply too strong for my boys to cope. Most of my team are just 16 or 17 years old." So what was hyped as an U-21 tournament, started with a young Laos national team, who'd just competed in the AFF U-19 championships, being whipped by a 23 year old striker with bags of international and domestic experience and the home side's captain for the day. To Cambodia's credit, they harried and buzzed around in the early stages, full of enthusiasm and egged on by a crowd of thousands of schoolchildren invited to give the match an atmosphere. It worked, as every positive move by the home side was greeted with mass cheering and clapping from the students. The first real action of the game came on nine minutes as Tum Saray was booked for going down too easily in the Laos penalty box. With Laboravy looking dangerous on the left, it was one of his characteristic shimmies that took him to the bye-line on 22 minutes, and his low cross was touched in by Phoung Soksana at the near post, we think with his knee, to whip the crowd into a frenzy. Around the half-hour mark, two incisive Saray passes inside both full-backs gave Cambodia two more opportunities, as the home side began to dominate the exchanges. For the first, Laboravy's bye-line cross looked to have given Soksana his second goal until Laos skipper Sousadakone Liepvisay got in a blocking tackle at the last moment. For the second, Chin Chhoeurn got his shot away only to see Laos keeper Soukthavy Soundala save the day, with Soksana blasting the rebound over the bar from 15 yards out. With five minutes of the first-half remaining, it was Laboravy again, with Saray the supplier, who should've reacted quicker when set free but allowed Phoutthasay Khochhalern to get in a last-ditch tackle. A minute later, Laboravy weaved and dazzled his way past two players but found keeper Soundala in fine form. The final action of the half, in time added on, saw Sou Yaty, in the home goal, produce his second save of the afternoon, fisting a 25-yard effort from Tokty Khounthoumphone from under the cross-bar. Yaty had stood firm to a Lembo Saysana rising drive ten minutes earlier with Laos' first real goalscoring chance.

The start of the second period was greeted with a rain shower that turned progressively worse and spoiled the game as a spectacle from the hour mark onwards. With water lying on the pitch surface, both teams found it impossible to play any type of passing game, with the Laos coach bemoaning afterwards that it was a "swimming pool and the game should've been stopped by the referee." In fact the referee did call the two captains together before deciding to continue. Just after the break, Saray had a low drive blocked by Soundala but it Laboravy who again grabbed the limelight when his 69th minute free-kick took a deflection off the wall and thundered against the crossbar. Soksana wasted yet another good opportunity a couple of minutes later before Yaty came to Cambodia's rescue with his best save of the game. As both teams found the going tough, Laos striker Xaisongkham Champathong conjured up some magic to send a shot that looked destined for the top corner, before Yaty pulled out a fingertip save to deny him. Cambodia adapted better to the conditions and it was only a matter of time before they increased their lead. With ten minutes to go, a goalmouth scramble saw Laboravy and then substitute Sok Pheng denied by desperate defensive blocks and then Saray was denied a goal for a challenge by Laboravy on Soundala. The killer second goal finally arrived six minutes from the final whistle. Pheng was brought down 20 yards out and Laboravy returned from some touchline treatment to find his range and accuracy from a free-kick that evaded the wall and also Soundala to send his teammates, and the wet crowd, into raptures. He was substituted moments later to a standing ovation. Cambodia saw out the final minutes to begin their defense of the BIDC Cup with a near-perfect 2-0 success, that sets them up nicely for their next game against Myanmar on Wednesday in pole position. The national team coach, South Korean Lee Tae-Hoon was a happy man after the game. "Laboravy is a very special player, he played ever so well, but so did Soksana, Chhoeurn and Saray, they all played well today. I was also very pleased with Yaty, he made a few good saves, though I will play Vichet in the next game. It's a good start."
Cambodia line-up: Yaty, Raksmey, Pancharong, Sovan, Rithy, Phearith, Sothearath, Saray, Chhoeurn (PM Udom 60), Soksana (Pheng 74), Laboravy (Dalin 86). Subs not used: Vichet, Rady, Daravorn, Sokngorn, Souhana, Veasna. Bookings: Saray, Rithy.
The youthful Laos team that went down 2-0
Lee Tae-Hoon describing his happiness with the 2-0 victory

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why U23 vs U19? First, I praised the winner, but then my head start wondering..!

Andy Brouwer said...

Well yes, you do have to question the validity of the BIDC Cup when Cambodia plays a team that is effectively their U23 team for the SEA Games, whilst most of the Laos team according to their coach were just 16 or 17 years old.. Also the Vietnam and Thai teams are of a similar age and recently played in the AFF U19 championships.
I understand that BIDC wants to sponsor youth football in the region but we already have AFC and AFF competitions for these age groups, so they pitched it at U21 but then allowed teams to play over-age players. Certainly not easy for the average football fan to get their head around. And definitely not a level playing-field as far as talent on show. As we saw when 23 yr old Khuon Laboravy completely dominated the Cambodia v Laos match.
Andy

Andy Brouwer said...

Snippets:
I see the Phnom Penh Post newspaper today (10 Oct) carried after-match comments purportedly from the Cambodia coach and the Laos coach, following Saturday's opening game of the BIDC Cup. Yet there was no PPPost reporter at the after-match press conference, so the interviews must've been done separately, which is fine of course, but rather makes a mockery of holding an after-match press conference.
The number of cameras, both the photo and tv camera variety, at the matches on Saturday indicated a heavy presence from Vietnam and Chinese media. I saw this in the SEA Games in 2009 when the Vietnamese media virtually took over the coverage of the whole Games.
The actions of the Chinese team's coaching officials who entered the field of play to remonstrate with the match referee in the 2nd game was maybe something that's acceptable in their country, but certainly not acceptable anywhere else. I take it that their coaching staff will have to sit out the next match in the grandstand.
Andy

Anonymous said...

seems like there is no plan B from the organizers.... now i fear the field will be a muddy ground by the time the finals arrive.... how can we enjoy good football when the pitch is such bad condition.
by the way i know that in thailand, there is no U21 team, only U23 then U19. I believed it is same for most other countries in this area.
anyway the saying goes - if you are good enough you are old enough. so age should not be a major factor here... while the cambodians use it for pre-sea games warm up, the other teams objective is to blood them against more experience players.
Just hope the FFC is able to provide/maintain a good pitch for the players to perform....
oh did u mentioned about the dog running onto the field.... so many security and yet a stray dog can sneak through and run onto the pitch...hahahaha

Andy Brouwer said...

Yes the state of the pitch will be a worry if we have more heavy rain this week, and during the rest of the matches.
Given what you say about the age group national teams, then why the heck did the organisers flag it as an U21 competition. they should've just said U23 and you can send whatever team you want to.
the dog that ran on the pitch nearly tackled Laboravy and looked more likely than any of the Laos defenders!
Andy