Absolutely Amazing

Elroy van der Hooft steps off the pitch having netted a hat-trick on his debut

Phnom Penh Crown coach Sam Schweingruber was determined to keep his emotions in check after watching his team take the points in a 3-1 win over Kirivong, despite losing a player just before half-time. The match was ruined as a footballing spectacle by the atrocious weather conditions but Crown battled hard for the victory, helped in no small part by a hat-trick for Dutch debutant Elroy van der Hooft. "Our team performance was absolutely amazing when you see how hard everybody worked, and fought and believed that even with 1-man down we could win. After a game like this its dangerous to think everything is perfect - we must keep our feet on the ground, we need to continue to work hard, of course it was a great performance but we have lots of things to improve.
Congratulations to the team for working so hard and making it happen. An amazing game. We talked to the players during the break. We did good things at half-time, motivated them and made them believe we could win this game. We were down to ten men, everyone expected us to lose, but if we won the game, it could turn our whole season.
I hoped for a good game from our two new signings; one walked off with a hat-trick, the other gets a red card. Elroy was amazing. 1st chance 1st goal, which is what we've been lacking. We've had some good games, created chances but we didn't finish. So having someone up front who scores, wins the ball, is physically strong, holds the ball up and fights, it was beautiful to watch. I couldn't have asked for any more. For me, foreign players should lead by example - his approach to the game, if he can keep pushing like this, sacrificing his body for the team, we can go a long way."

After leaving the Crown fans wanting more, with three goals on his debut, striker Elroy van der Hooft was quick to acknowledge the part played by his teammates. "I focused before the game on winning, we needed to win, I didn't think about scoring, so to score 3 goals is like a dream come true. I must credit the success to my team, who gave me very good passes. It was difficult because of the rain but we have a very good team and shouldn't be afraid of anyone else if we play like this. The football here is more tactical, which is good as I'm used to that. I am very happy today, this is the best start I could hope for." Understating his own personal performance, Elroy battled for every ball, taking a few knocks including a first-half dead-leg which actually cast a doubt over his second-half involvement, and best of all, he found that goalscoring killer touch that has been lacking for much of the season. Now Crown fans can't wait for the next installment.