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| The Cambodia U-14's line-up in the first match v Philippines - click to enlarge |
I spoke to
Cambodia U-14s head coach Bouy Dary straight after
the youngsters final match of the opening day of the AFC U-14 Festival
of Football, played in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia and it was clear that he
was immensely pleased and proud of how his young squad had performed in
their three matches today. Not only was he happy with their showing in
the three games but others watching the matches had also commented to
him on how talented the Cambodian youngsters were and how their style of
play was a pleasure to watch. The U-14s began the day against the
Philippines and found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-0 defeat,
though Dary felt his youngsters had the measure of their opponents
towards the end of the 30-minute game. All the matches in the first two
days are of thirty minute duration. The Philippines team had spent the
last couple of months at a training camp in Palermo, Italy and had
played a dozen warm-up matches whilst overseas, showing the difference
in preparation between the two countries, with Dary having access to his
squad for three days a week for the last two months. The second and
third matches of the day for the Cambodian U-14s were in the afternoon.
Dary played two line-ups of eleven players each, ensuring all of his
squad players got game-time. The match against Myanmar couldn't have
started any better with a goal by Kunthea Ravann of Preah Khan Reach
after just a minute. Despite this head start, Myanmar later equalised
though the head coach felt his team were always the better side on
display as the teams fought out a 1-1 draw at the final whistle. For
their final game on day 1, Cambodia faced the much taller and physically stronger
team from West Australia but that didn't deter the Cambodian youngsters
who were unlucky not to record their first win. A goal by Yeu Muslim on
eleven minutes gave Cambodia the lead but Australia levelled and a
penalty by Pov Ponvuthy went astray leaving a final score of 1-1. Dary
was full of praise for his boys in both matches against bigger
opposition and felt they were the better team in both encounters. The
U-14's have three games tomorrow against Timor Leste, Thailand and
Myanmar again, all of thirty minutes duration, before three more games that will be played for an hour apiece on Saturday and Sunday.
The line-ups for the three matches today:
v Philippines: Pheakdey, K Chhaya, Piphop, Baraing, Sovann (capt), Chanpolin, Rosak, Sodavid, Chansopheak, Ponvuthy, Muslim.
v Myanmar: Chanvuthy, Phearath, Noeut, Titchhy (capt), Senteang, Chanchav, Ravann, T Chhaya, Nuron, Hap, Sakrovy.
v West Australia: Pheakdey, K Chhaya, Piphop, Baraing, Sovann (capt), Chanpolin, Rosak, Sodavid, Chansopheak, Ponvuthy, Muslim.
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| The Cambodia U-14s for the 1-1 with Myanmar - click to enlarge |
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| The Australia team in yellow completely dwarf their Cambodian opponents in blue |
7 comments:
Well done boys but it's unbelievable to be defeated at the Philippines hand.
Against Australia, it's men vs. boys! Congrats, Khmer kids.
the core of the team is from Crown whom are slaughtering all the local teams and now they cant win a single game overseas? seems the gap in standard is too wide.... either the FA starts getting better coaches in or starts sending these kids overseas for exposure - they will always be a big fish in a small pond...when release to the river, they will struggle and be eaten alive....
Anon 9.22am: Your cup seems half full. After 1 day of the U-14 tournament and you are already decrying the youngsters efforts. The U-14s are a work in progress and the Crown Academy is the first building blocks of improving Cambodian football for the future. At that age, results are of secondary importance to team-building, improving individuals and playing the game the right way. International competition is paramount in determining where you are and where you need to be for the coaches, hence the importance of competitions like these. A dearth of quality coaches is a concern though U-14s coach Bouy Dary is streets ahead of anyone else when it comes to that age level.
Andy,
Congrats to Dary n boys,
If u compare gap between Cambodian football n rest of the region in seniors , result of this team is good.
Also Dary in this age don't need to be pressured by results, most important is that boys playing well.
They need this exposure.
Rgds Bojan
not trying to downplay their efforts but while cambodia is just investing in only 30-40 kids in these academy / clubs, the neighboring countries are investing in like 3000 or more kids with proper pitches and better coaches and proper balls...so work out the maths where does all this leads to for the country....
Bojan - thanks for keeping your interest in Cambodian football and especially our youngsters.
Anon 5.08PM: We have only 1 Academy in Cambodia, at PPCFC, and that's simply not enough. We know that but we are waiting for the football authorities to set out their plans for developing football, and have been waiting a long time already. Which is why PPCFC went ahead and started their own Academy. Of course we need more academies, more coaches, more everything but if we don't start somewhere, we will never get this show on the road. Considering our limited resources, we ain't doing too badly so far.
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