Messi back in the fold

PPCFC midfielder Ouk Sothy, known to all by his nickname Messi, is aiming to be back, fit and ready for the new Metfone C-League season that will kick-off on 7 February. "I so regret that I couldn't help my team last season, I desperately wanted to play, so it was annoying to watch every game from the sidelines. My knee injury, that I got in May, meant I missed the whole season, so it was very frustrating, but I was so pleased that my teammates won the championship again, as we did the year before. I was very happy for them." In 2014 Sothy was a key element of the team that collected their first championship title under coach Sam Schweingruber. In May of this year, he was training with the Cambodia national team when he felt a severe pain in his knee whilst playing a friendly match against the African All-Stars. A visit to Vietnam diagnosed the injury as an anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) and an operation to repair the damage was performed by Dr Heng. Recovery from an ACL injury is notoriously slow and Sothy began the long road to fitness with physical therapy including muscle-strengthening and stability exercises. He eventually managed a few minutes in a practice match just before the end-of-season break so he's looking forward to the resumption of training tomorrow, to put his own fitness to the test. When asked about the influx of young Academy players into the team, he said: "I am so happy for them, it's a great opportunity. They are young but they already have international experience, and are very good players." It will be a welcome sight to see Sothy challenging for a place in the Crown starting line-up again, we have missed him.