Photo op

The Cambodia national team: picture courtesy and copyright of Sovanna Kem - click to enlarge

The Cambodia national team, the senior one that is not the U-21 squad that has been training twice a week for the past month, put in a surprise appearance on the training ground this week. The national team have the important AFF Suzuki Cup qualifiers in October over in Laos, but little has been heard of the preparation since a suggested series of training camps fell by the wayside. South Korean head coach Lee Tae-Hoon was hoping to get a 29-man squad together for a series of camps during the current domestic league campaign but it never happened. So this week's session, it appears primarily for a team photo, was unannounced. The squad on the photo has just 18 players, only one keeper and is missing some obvious faces. Nonetheless, it's the basis for the future training squad and includes 7 Phnom Penh Crown players - Sou Yaty, Hong Pheng, Kok Boris, Kouch Sokumpheak, Ouk Sothy, Bin Thierry and Sos Suhana. The plan for future sessions is unclear with the domestic season just 4 weeks away from completion. There was talk of a three-week camp in South Korea in September and in August, the U-21s have a tournament in Brunei, in which a handful of the senior team will be involved including overage players, Sokumpheak and Suhana.