Yeu Muslim strokes home his penalty kick
Unusually for the youth games that I watch most Sundays involving the
Phnom Penh Crown Academy, the match against PSE (Pour un Sourire d'Enfant) this morning had a touch of needle in it. It came from the PSE team who probably felt the need to show a bit of steel rather than simply let the Academy youngsters roll over them. PSE won the yellow card count at 3-1. PPCFC won the game 6-0. Seut Baraing opened the scoring when his cross floated in at the far post and Yeu Muslim added the second from the penalty spot after he'd been upended. A double strike from Pov Ponvuthy and quick-fire goals from In Sodavid and Mat Sakrovy completed the scoring in the second half. Sath Rozak was the game's outstanding player. A pretty one-sided affair with PSE rarely threatening, aside from the physical stuff. This was the 4th success in as many games for Crown in the Barclays Capital U-14 Champions League. The Crown 'B' team, in the Premier League competition, beat the hapless CCFUA 13-2 with Nop David netting five. The Academy have put on hold a trip to Vietnam for some friendly matches as they've been invited to a tournament in Hong Kong at the end of this month, and they're trying to juggle the logistics.
The Academy's Barclays Capital ISF U-14 Champions League results so far:
v Komar Athyreach w19-0 (Muslim 3, Ponvuthy 3, Chanpolin 3, Sakrovy 2, V Samnang 2, Chansopheak, Sodavid, Sovann, Baraing, Noeut, OG)
v Komar Takhmao w10-0 (Senteang 2, Ponvuthy 2, Chansopheak, Muslim, T Chhaya, Chanchav, Noeut, OG)
v Preah Khan Reach w4-0 (Muslim, V Samnang, Chanpolin, Senteang)
v PSE w6-0 (Ponvuthy 2, Baraing, Muslim, Sodavid, Sakrovy).
The Academy 1st half team against PSE: Back Row LtoR: Titchhy, Baraing, Chanpolin, Chanchav. Front: Piphob, Chansopheak, Noeut, Muslim, V Samnang.
The 2nd half team that completed the 6-0 success. Back: Rozak, Titchhy, Chansopheak, Sovann. Front: Ponvuthy, Phearath, T Chhaya, Noeut, V Samnang.
Vat Samnang tries one of his trademark free-kicks
Friends before the game but someone forgot to tell PSE to play fair during the match
Yeu Muslim strokes home his penalty kick
The Academy 1st half team against PSE: Back Row LtoR: Titchhy, Baraing, Chanpolin, Chanchav. Front: Piphob, Chansopheak, Noeut, Muslim, V Samnang.
The 2nd half team that completed the 6-0 success. Back: Rozak, Titchhy, Chansopheak, Sovann. Front: Ponvuthy, Phearath, T Chhaya, Noeut, V Samnang.
Vat Samnang tries one of his trademark free-kicks
Friends before the game but someone forgot to tell PSE to play fair during the match
2 comments:
Hey Andy,
been reading your blog for a while now. It seems from your writing that the Crown Youth team is top notch in their age range in the country. How are the Crown boys' skill level compared to their counterparts in SEA areas? Reading your blog about how the Crown boys have been beating their national opponents very easily makes me wonder if there is actually a batch of newcomers that will in a few years time change the performance of the big national team.
Anon2:10AM,
Thanks for asking about the Academy boys. They are receiving qualified football coaching every morning and academic schooling every afternoon. I believe they will be the best equipped footballers that Cambodia has ever produced.
Difficult to compare with other countries, but as an example, when we played the Arsenal Academy from Saigon in Vietnam, we completely outshone them.
If the boys continue their development, I believe we have a nucleus of a group of fabulous footballers, coached the right way and without bad habits, that can help to improve the standard of football in Cambodia and for the national team. At the moment they are U-14 but if they continue to progress, we could see them in a couple or three years beginning to make an impact.
There will always be casualties when good young players grow older. Some don't progress as you hope they do. But we have high hopes for the nucleus of the Crown Academy and expect to begin our 2nd intake of U13 boys at the end of 2012. Only by persevering with the Academy and teaching the boys the right way, from the right age, can we hope for a better future for Cambodian football.
Andy
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