Off to China

The Phnom Penh Crown first team squad head for Nanning in Southern China this afternoon, invited to take part in the 2nd Nanning Asean International Football Invitation Tournament, aka the Huanglongju Real Estate Cup, alongside teams from Vietnam, Laos, Korea and of course, China. China's stringent immigration rules have left Crown's African players back home, with coach Sam Schweingruber taking a 16-man squad for the competition. Their first match is on Friday (15 Nov) against Guangxi Nanning Runhua FC at 3pm at the 60,000 seater Nanning Stadium. They then play against Laos Youth FC the next day, Saturday (16 Nov) also at 3pm. Those 3 teams are in Group B. The teams in Group A are Lang Son City (Vietnam), Changwon (Korea) and Guangxi Huanglongju FC (China). On Tuesday (19 Nov) all the teams will play-off to decide where they finish, from sixth place to champions. The team will fly back to Phnom Penh on 21 November and are likely to play Western University in a practice match the following morning, as they continue their pre-season preparation build-up. Crown's season is due to begin in mid-December with the Hun Sen Cup and the C-League is slated to start in the second week of January. The 16-man squad for the Nanning tournament is: Ary, Pheng, Boris, Keo, Hutchinson, Sarak, Da, Srin, Sokheng, Thierry, Sothy, Sokumpheak, Borey, Makara, Sosela, King.