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| Cambodia v Myanmar. Back Row LtoR: Yaty, Soksana, Samoeun, Sovan, Thierry, Sothearath.
Front: Pheng, Pancharong, Khemrin, Suhana, Chhoeun - pic by Sovanna Kem/NagaWorld, click to enlarge |
Two first-half headers and a third goal early in the 2nd half undid
Cambodia U-23s in their opening SEA Games group match against the home nation, Myanmar on Saturday evening. The 3-0 defeat was to be expected with Cambodia going behind on 14 minutes and again just after the half hour, as Myanmar were simply too strong in the air. Sok Pheng and Chhin Chhoeun had good openings for Cambodia before the break but didn't trouble the scorers, whilst Sou Yaty had another stormer of a game for his country between the sticks. Phnom Penh Crown's Sos Suhana and Bin Thierry completed 90 minutes, with the latter taking the captain's armband for the final 18 minutes. Myanmar coach Park Seong-Hwa said before the game that he's looking to lead his team to the SEA Games gold medal, but they will have to play a lot better than they did against Cambodia to achieve that. In the first game of Group B, Thailand beat Timor Leste 3-1. Cambodia next face Indonesia on Monday afternoon.
5 comments:
Okay Andy thanks for the predictable scoreline and your quick match report but what about the missing players? Are replacements being sent? Or do we have to wait till the team comes home to find out the real story? What does the FFC have to say?
Andy, why weren't the 4 players who missed the final cut, like Nen Sothearoth and Ung Dara, drafted into the squad when the other 4 'went missing' at the airport? What a shambles!
Anon 1 & 2 - Cambodia cannot send replacements as they had already submitted their playing squad for the SEA Games. The withdrawals were too late, too last-minute.
We will have to wait until the squad returns to know the whole story.
Coach Lee Tae-Hoon, who lives in his own world anyway, said he had no idea why the players were left behind in Cambodia, when asked after the Myanmar match. That just about sums him up in my book - of course he knows.
I've read from Goal Indonesia (here, sorry it's in Indonesian of course: m.goal.com/x/id-ID/news/4464875 ) that 4 players (Say Piseth, Sok Rithy, Tum Saray, and Keo Sokgorn) aren't sent because of something about "ruining the country's reputation", said the FFC President, Sao Sokha. What was this all about?
IC, that's all we know so far, there has been no other statement by the football federation. Everyone in Cambodia is waiting to hear more about this, as the squad went to the SEA Games with just 16 players, after 4 players dropped out at the last minute. We expect to know more AFTER the SEA Games has finished.
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