Reviewing the match

Touch Pancharong (6) keeps Chan Vathanaka at bay from referee Khuon Virak. Pic: Masayori Ishikawa.

There were a few things that jump out at you from the match yesterday. One of the most glaring was the persistent complaining/moaning/arguing of the Boeung Ket players with the match referee. Amongst their worst offenders was their wunderkind Chan Vathanaka, who perhaps was frustrated by starting the game on the bench. After he arrived on the pitch just after the half-hour, he then spent the rest of the match spitting venom at referee Khuon Virak, especially when Chukwuma Ohuruogu was dismissed and Touch Pancharong had to physically manhandle him away from the referee on three separate occasions in the space of under a minute, kicking out at Obadin and Borey, and pushing Thierry and Ha-Neul, before he finally lost it altogether and whilst berating the official, he pushed Virak in the chest, immediately after Boeung Ket's goal. On any pitch anywhere in the world that would've generated a straight red card. For whatever reason, Virak merely brandished a yellow card and the petulant youngster got away with it. I am still scratching my head how he didn't get an early bath. I also think back to how his play-acting/screaming in the earlier game between the two teams, eventually ended up with Ngoy Srin getting a 5-match ban. Where oh where is the justice in football. Talking of referees, can anyone explain to me when the Federation has a minimum of ten referees on its panel, how in the past six matches, games involving Phnom Penh Crown have only been refereed by two of them, namely Khuon Virak and Saing Sopheak, being in the middle for three games each. It simply doesn't make sense. Finally, there was an incident in the VIP area of the grandstand where items were thrown and yet the party responsible was not spoken to by the head of security, yet the target of the missiles was warned by said security official about their behaviour. The world is completely arse about face. The most satisfying aspect of the whole day though, was the 3-1 victory and the three points.