Thierry flies in

Thierry Bin, PPCFC's new number 9

Phnom Penh Crown's newest signing, Thierry Bin, arrived from Paris, via Kuala Lumpur and walked straight into the full glare of the television cameras on his arrival at the city's International Airport. Welcomed by Crown's new head coach Sam Schweingruber and club officials, Thierry was quickly put in front of the cameras from no less than half a dozen television channels sending their cameramen - CTN, Hang Meas, CNC, TV3, TV5, TV9 and Bayon - with the coach fielding the initial series of questions. Speaking in fluent Khmer, Sam responded: "I signed Thierry because of his technique and his understanding of the game, plus his experience of working in a professional environment. I want him to help our many young players to understand more about professional football and to help take us to the next level. He will help us to create the right environment and to be more professional - though we aren't sure of winning trophies right away, we will certainly be a strong team. He has a 1 year contract but we will look to extend that fairly soon if he becomes the key player we believe he is." He then added; "We are looking at two other Khmer-French players, we are interested in them but we haven't signed them yet." The questions were then directed at Thierry, who replied in a mix of French and Khmer. "I chose Phnom Penh Crown because its the best project overall, I was impressed with what the club want to do, not just the 1st team but the overall club development. The coach was the one who talked to me at length, I trust him and he made me want to join the club....I want to win games and help the club win the championship. My personal goal is to play well for Crown and go onto play for the Cambodia national team....I want to say thank you to the supporters and people who made the Khmer-Europe trip possible. I am excited about playing in Cambodia and for Phnom Penh Crown." It was a good start to the 21-year-old's career with Crown, which will begin with a flourish with his first training session at 8am on Tuesday morning. The player has a good pedigree, having been a junior with a top academy at RC Strasbourg, during which time he represented the French U-16 national team. He went onto play at Bretigny, FC Saint-Jean-le-Blanc and Aubervilliers before making the switch to the country of his parent's birth, after a successful showing whilst on tour with the Khmer-Europe team a couple of months ago.

Thierry Bin and coach Sam Schweingruber hold his number 9 jersey

Seven TV stations covered the arrival of Thierry Bin at the airport this afternoon