Brunei left reeling

The Cambodia U-16s celebrate back at their accommodation

I caught up with Sam Schweingruber, the coach of Cambodia's U-16s who'd just thrashed their opponents from Brunei 8-0 and despite the slow internet connections in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, he had this to say about his team's success in their second AFF U-16 Youth Championship tie.

"Well, we knew we would have a chance against Brunei and that they are not a great team but it turned out easier than expected. We made a perfect start which made it a lot easier, our first chance really and the first goal. Ratana again and again caused lots of trouble with his pace and he found Senteang free for the opening goal. We has a few good free-kick opportunities and some chances got wasted before an own goal really made the game safe. Just before half-time we managed to score 2 more goals: the 3rd goal was the same as the first, Ratana with a good run on the left, cut back and Senteang first touch and a goal. The 4th goal came off the crossbar, a rebound header and in the end it went in.

We knew that Brunei were reeling and honestly were hoping to add more goals in the second half. Just minutes after the restart Senteang was sent clear and went around the keeper. Some brilliant short passing and 1 more goal came. Then I made 3 early changes to rest some legs and get more goals. We really played some very nice attacking football and also great build up play, restricting Brunei to only a few shots from distance. They fell apart and this helped us to play so well. I have to admit our second half intensity dropped and we will have to pick it up when we face Vietnam on Saturday (at 7.15pm). They are a strong team as we know.

One more thing. Our captain today was Ravan. I have decided to give a new player the captain's armband for each game, to test them, to give them the chance to show, and to encourage that person to shine in the game a bit more - today Ravan scored 2 goals - it's something new, I've never done this before but because there was no obvious choice for captain, I decided to give it a go."

Cambodia (red) line-up with Brunei before the match