Rithy on his bike

Sok Rithy, pictured at national team training in 2008

NagaCorp have pulled off a bit of a coup by securing the services of rock-solid central defender Sok Rithy from last season's champions Svay Rieng before the Metfone C-League teams begin to reassemble for the start of their pre-season training. Rithy has been a mainstay of the Svay Rieng (previously known as Preah Khan Reach) and Cambodia teams, at various age levels, for the last few years (I recall him making his full debut in the Suzuki Cup in 2008) and winning the title with the military-police backed team last season would've been a highlight for him. His performances have made him one of the most consistent performers in the country for the past few years and despite offers to move, he remained at Svay Rieng. Nevertheless, he's now been tempted away to sign for the casino-backed club and will line-up alongside other national team defenders in the shape of Tieng Tiny, Om Thavrak and Chan Dara in the coming season. I did notice one anomaly though. His official birthdate on the AFF website as supplied by the Cambodian football federation is December 1990, which makes him 22 years old, but to be perfectly frank, he's been around for so long, that is clearly an error of some magnitude. Then I checked on the player's own Facebook page and he quotes his own birthdate as December 1986, which puts his age at 26 years old. A lot more feasible. Must've been a typing error from the FFC, right?