Looking back

In the wake of the recent draw for the AFC President’s Cup 2014 that will take place in Sri Lanka this September - the last ever edition - here's the highlights of a competition highly regarded throughout Asia for offering a platform for clubs from emerging nations. The AFC President’s Cup was first competed for in 2005, a move designed to afford an opportunity for the league champions of AFC’s emerging nations to feature in a competitive continental competition. The relevant clubs embraced the concept, and, with Asia watching on, duly started participating on a continental stage. Despite the AFC’s decision to bring the curtain down on the nine-year existence of the AFC President’s Cup, clubs from emerging nations will bid farewell to the competition safe in the knowledge that there are more opportunities in the offing. From 2015 onwards, the AFC has decided that the league champions from emerging nations can play in the AFC Cup qualification stage, and, therefore, showcase their talent at an even higher level.

The AFC President’s Cup journey began in 2005 when Regar TadAZ from Tajikistan defeated Kyrgyzstan's Dordoi Dynamo (now FC Dynamo) 3-0 to lift the inaugural title in Kathmandu.
Dordoi won the next two competitions in Malaysia and Pakistan, while Regar again reigned supreme in 2008 and 2009. The following year, Yadanarbon of Myanmar became the first winners of the competition from outside Central Asia when they defeated Dordoi 1-0 in Myanmar. Chinese Taipei became the first East Asian representative to win the competition in 2011 when Taiwan Power Company lifted the trophy in front of home support (beating Phnom Penh Crown 3-2), while subsequent wins for Tajikistan’s Istiqlol and Turkmenistan's Balkan in 2012 and 2013 ensured that there is still to be a winner from West or South Asia. Palestine’s Al Am’ari and KRL Football Club of Pakistan, did however make it into the finals in the 2012 and 2013 editions respectively. There are three representatives from South Asia in the upcoming and last edition of the competition, while DPR Korea's Rimyongsu are making their debut. Erchim of Mongolia and FC HTTU are making their appearances in the finals for the first time.

Dreams shattered

Svay Rieng, not exactly enjoying the weather in Mongolia

Svay Rieng's AFC President's Cup dreams were left in tatters yesterday as they made an early exit from the competition, during the qualifying group stage in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar. Two games, two defeats will see a return home for the Military-Police backed squad who found not only the football, but the cold weather, not to their liking. Yesterday's 3-1 defeat to the home team, Erchim was pretty much expected, after the Cambodian champions were trounced 6-3 against the Nepalese representatives, Manang Marshyangdi, a couple of days before. It was not the Svay Rieng that won the C-League title last season that travelled to Mongolia and they went into the tournament in the middle of an indifferent series of results at home. Teenage striker, Gal-erdene Soyol-erdene, scored twice for Erchim yesterday, after SVR's Nen Sothearoth had opened the scoring with an own goal. Despite Prak Mony Udom netting an equaliser on fifteen minutes, Erchim took the lead just after the half-hour and then wrapped up the result with a penalty on the stroke of half-time. There was no way back for the Khmer team and they lost Suon Veasna to a red card just to add insult to injury. 3,620 watched the match in sunny but bitterly cold conditions. In their opening game, Svay Rieng were 3-nil down within the opening thirty minutes, which included an own goal from Moul Daravorn. SVR pulled it back to 3-2 with goals either side of the interval through Nub Tola and Suon Veasna, before the Nepal champs stepped up a gear and rattled in three more goals, with Tola grabbing a late consolation. It would need a miracle in their remaining match for SVR to progress and that miracle simply didn't happen. Svay Rieng will be on their travels again at the end of the month, as they've been drawn to play Albirex Niigata in the RHB Singapore Cup. Also joining them are NagaCorp, who asked to join the party and were accepted. They will meet last season's cup winners, Home United. The matches are one-off games to be played in Singapore. Both Khmer teams will be up against two of the best teams in Singapore, so don't hold your breath on them progressing any further.

Snippets of news

• A Cambodian U-12 football squad under PPCFC's Academy head coach Bouy Dary is heading for South Korea tomorrow for a youth festival. 18 players from PPCFC, Svay Rieng, Prek Kdam and Battambang. Matches will be thirty minutes and 9-a-side. Its taking place in Incheon, Korea's third largest city. Great experience for the youngsters especially as they are camping in tents with over 1,000 other boys.

• Word on the grapevine is that Phnom Penh Crown have been invited to a pre-season tournament in an Asian country that the club have never visited before. More when the tournament is confirmed.

• The Cambodia U-23s continue their build-up to the BIDC Cup in November and the SEA Games in December by playing friendlies against local opposition. And I mean very local. They beat Kirivong 5-0 last week and then drew 2-2 with their U-19 national team counterparts. They will continue on the same theme when they meet National Police tomorrow at 7.30am at the Olympic Stadium. Three PPCFC players are in the U-23 training squad: new signing Sou Yaty, Bin Thierry and Sos Suhana. Postscript: The U-23s won 4-1 against National Police. Goals by Sokngon, Chhoeun, Vathanaka, Udom.

• Balkan FC from Turkmenistan, who beat Boeung Ket 2-0 in Phnom Penh back in May during the qualifiers, have been crowned this year's AFC President's Cup champions with a 1-0 win in the final over KRL from Pakistan. The final stages were held in neutral Malaysia. Balkan topped their group in the final stage with wins over Three Star (Nepal) 6-0 and Erchim (Mongolia) 4-0 but needed a winning goal three minutes from time to beat the Pakistan champions.

Bounced out of the cup

It's time to look back at the AFC President's Cup qualifying matches just concluded earlier today at the Olympic Stadium. The first thing to note is that the home side, Boeung Ket, failed to progress. This is the third time the group matches have been played in Cambodia and the first time that the hosts have not gone onto the final stages. For the past two years, Phnom Penh Crown proceeded to the finals. This time around, the Rubbermen's hopes were high after opening up with a 6-0 win over the whipping boys from Sri Lanka but a 2-0 defeat on Wednesday to the wily Balkan team from Turkmenistan meant they had to beat the Palestinians from Al-Quds Hilal this afternoon. It was too much cat and mouse for my liking, there was little attempt to pummel the Palestine team into submission and the tentative approach didn't work as the visitors scored late on to win the game, 1-nil. No President's Cup glory this season for the current C-League leaders. Instead, Balkan deservedly top the group with a 3-2 win over Al-Quds and a 5-0 success earlier today against the Sri Lanka Army. They go onto the finals to be held in September. Al-Quds recovered from that first day loss to beat Sri Lanka 10-0 and give themselves the advantage going into today's tie. An advantage that gave them a cushion to go onto win in front of an official attendance of 5,500 at the Olympic Stadium.

Talking football

Sonneat (with camera), Sokpheary and myself after the interview

I won't be able to watch myself in action as I'll be in the air, on my way to Tajikistan, when the interview that we filmed this morning, will be shown on the Cambodian News Channel this coming Saturday. Sports presenter Sokpheary and her cameraman Sonneat came to my office early doors to film an interview focusing on Phnom Penh Crown's involvement in the AFC President's Cup. They only have a 15-minute segment, though the interview easily lasted 45 minutes. A bunch of questions from Sokpheary, crisp answers from myself and Rumnea, off-camera, translating my responses into Khmer. It went swimmingly well. They will also try to get some footage of  the Crown team training this week and if they can make it in time, they'll see us off at the airport on Saturday morning. The segment will be shown on the CNC Sports Corner programme on Saturday 22 September between 6-7pm.

Neftchi no more

The Neftchi line-up against PPCFC in last season's AFC President's Cup final stage

The Kyrgyzstan football championship is five games into its 2012 campaign and Dordoi Bishkek, who scored a late penalty success over Phnom Penh Crown at the Olympic Stadium recently, are in second spot. They will be joining Crown in the six-team final of the AFC President's Cup in September at a location still to be decided by AFC. However, one name missing from the Kyrgyz championship this season is that of Neftchi Kochkor-Ata, who Crown fans will remember also inflicted a 1-nil defeat of Crown in the qualifying competition last season. Though Crown did get their revenge, beating Neftchi 2-1 in the final stages of the AFC President's Cup in Taiwan. That was effectively Neftchi's swansong after the club suffered a funding shortfall from its main sponsor Kyrgyzneftgaz - the Department of State's oil and gas company - and collapsed on the eve of the new season. Neftchi won the league title in 2010 ending a six-year stranglehold of the country's top football league by Dordoi, though lost out again last term, finishing runners-up to their main rivals. Now their sixty year history has come to an inglorious end and it remains to be seen whether football in the Kochkor-Ata area of the country will regain a representative next season. Football fans noticed a team by the same name, FC Neftchi playing in the AFC Cup this year and wondered aloud if Neftchi had been promoted. They hadn't. The Neftchi team competing in the higher-graded competition are from Uzbekistan.

Football natter

The grapevine tells me that the FFC have decided to delay the start times of the Metfone C-League matches on Saturday & Sunday this week by half an hour. The word is that it's too hot at the original 2pm kick-off, so they've put it back thirty minutes, to 2.30pm and 4.30pm respectively. How about going the whole hog and starting the first match at 4pm and the 2nd match at 6pm under floodlights. That way the teams won't be forced to play when it's hot enough to fry an egg on the roof of the substitute's bench. I haven't heard officially, but that's not surprising. There's less information coming out of the FFC than was ever released by the CIA, MI5 or the KGB at the height of their secretiveness.

I'm still agog at the non-selection of the Cambodian national coach Lee Tae-Hoon to take charge of the Cambodia U-22 squad that will compete in the brand new AFC U-22 Asian Cup Qualifying rounds in June. This man is supposed to be responsible for the national team. He's just taken charge of their dismal showing in the U-21 Brunei invitational tournament, losing four games out of four - with not a word from Lee or the FFC on their abysmal results by the way. So you'd think he'd be heavily involved in shaping the team going forwards, and finding the best young talent to mould for his AFF Suzuki Cup squad in October. Not according to the FFC. They've given the U-22s to someone else and parked Lee Tae-Hoon on the touchlines, either because he's on his way out when his contract expires in the middle of the year, or because they have completely lost the plot. I'd plump for the latter. In fact I know they lost the plot about 20 months ago when they appointed Lee in the first place. A man with no real coaching experience aside from two spells as an assistant bib-collector to the South Korean ladies team. No offence ladies, but please. With Lee out of the U-22 picture, one of the Prak family, Prak Somony has been given the task of bringing home the bacon, which of course will be an impossible task given they have games against North Korea, China, Thailand, Hong Kong and Laos. Read my lips, Cambodia will finish bottom of the group. The qualifiers begin at the end of June, yet the U-22s have already held trials and begun training sessions. Why I ask? It's March. We have just started the domestic football league, all the players are fit and well, most of the 25-man squad that the U-22s have announced played in the recent U-21 debacle, so they know each other very well. The players don't need to get together until late April at the very earliest. It's complete overkill and for a competition that they haven't got a cat-in-hell's chance of qualifying for.

I've seen the list of 25 players for this Cambodian U-22 squad. It has two Phnom Penh Crown players in it, Sok Sovan and Sos Suhana. Hong Pheng and Sok Pheng also went for trials but didn't get in. As a result Sok Pheng missed last Wednesday's game with an injury. The list has five players in it who according to a list of players' birthdates supplied by the FFC in 2009, are well over 22 years of age. All players eligible for this competition must be born on or after 1 January 1991. The five players, Prum Puthsethy, Chhun Sothearath, Touch Pancharong, Sou Yaty and Srey Udom are older than that. Presumably, there was an error back in 2009 with their birthdates and miraculously, their passports now show dates well within the deadline. How convenient. I also have serious doubts about the stated ages of players like Sok Rithy and Say Piseth. But a quick check of their passports will reveal that they really are much younger than they look. The scourge of age cheating is something that seems to forever hang around like a bad smell.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the same body that Phnom Penh Crown came face to face with at close quarters in Taiwan for the AFC President's Cup Final last year and saw exactly how they operated, have had one of their meetings full of suits. The competitions committee have suggested that a country not recognised by FIFA and so they don't appear on the world rankings list, be admitted to play in next year's AFC Challenge Cup and AFC President’s Cup. The country is Northern Mariana Islands, who are an associate member of the AFC. Never heard of them? Join the club. Located in the Pacific Ocean, there are 15 islands making up the NMI, housing 50,000 people, and essentially come under the flag of the United States. Their nearest neighbours are Guam, who they play all their matches against.

Massive bombshell for Crown

The Phnom Penh Crown Crown players and staff await the AFC's judgement

A massive bombshell has shaken the Cambodian League champions, Phnom Penh Crown, to the core. The investigation into the on the pitch flashpoints at the end of the AFC President's Cup Final between Crown and home team Taiwan Power Company, played in Taiwan on 25 September, has finally been concluded by the AFC Disciplinary Committee. And it makes tough reading for Crown followers. The AFC have found three players - Chan Chaya, San Narith and Sun Sovannrithy - guilty of assaulting the match referee, Marai Mohammed Alawaji from Saudi Arabia, and have been suspended from all football competitions, both international and domestic, for a period of 6 months. Two of the players, Narith and Sovannrithy have already left Crown and look likely to join Naga Corp. It was in the fourth minute of added-on time, with Crown losing 3-2, that the three players reacted stupidly to what they saw as a nailed-on penalty when teammate Hong Ratana was scythed down from behind, though the referee, in his report, indicated that he had already blown for a handball by Ratana. All three of them pushed the referee in the chest, as did Thul Sothearith, but his actions have been overlooked by the AFC, and were subsequently red carded once the referee had composed himself. They will now sit out all competitive football for the next six months.

The second sequence of events to come under the scrutiny of the AFC Disciplinary Committe were the shocking scenes witnessed moments after the final whistle. As the Taiwan Power players began to celebrate, substitute Kuao-Kai Pan raced from the bench to attack Hong Ratana from behind, sparking a mass brawl between players from both sides. For their part in the fracas, six Crown players have been found guilty of misconduct against an opponent and involvement in a brawl and have been suspended from all football competitions, both international and domestic, for the next eight matches. Those players are Peng Bunchay, Kingsley Njoku, Hong Ratana, Sun Sopanha, Thul Sothearith and Suong Virak.

The reaction of the Phnom Penh Crown management, having waited for the AFC investigation to produce its findings, has been swift and tough. In a club statement issued this afternoon, Crown have immediately terminated the contracts of six players – Chan Chaya, Peng Bunchhay, Hong Ratana, Sun Sopanha, Thul Sothearith and Suong Virak. Of the remainder, Sun Sovannrithy and San Narith have already left the club and Kingsley Njoku’s contract has expired.

The club's official statement reads as follows: PPCFC cannot condone the behaviour of players, who while representing the club, have been found guilty by the AFC Disciplinary Committee of assault and serious misconduct. At PPCFC we sincerely believe that we must lead by example in our behaviour and attitude both on and off the pitch, particularly in encouraging the youth of Cambodia to follow the true spirit of the game of football. In light of this, we therefore find the behaviour of the players found guilty by the AFC to be totally unacceptable and have taken the course of action explained above. The Crown President, Rithy Samnang, added his own statement to the club's comments. “I was devastated by the reaction of some of my players in the AFC President’s Cup Final in Taiwan and have waited to hear the judgement from the AFC Disciplinary Committee. I want my team to play the game of football in the right way, to be an example to our Academy boys and the rest of the youth in Cambodia. This is a key element running through the backbone of Phnom Penh Crown FC. Everyone worked so hard last season to bring more success to the club but the actions of some players have tarnished the reputation of the club and Cambodian football throughout Asia. This is why we have taken such robust decisions. We must remain strong and stop this from happening ever again,” stated the Crown chief.

In anyone's book, that is a bombshell of nuclear proportions. In one fell swoop, head coach David Booth has lost a big chunk of his successful squad, who carried off the Cambodian League title and took the club to their best-ever international cup run. The players who have been released are for the most part, experienced professionals, having represented their country but who for a few minutes at the end of a fiery cup final, lost their heads completely and must now pay the ultimate price for their actions. For Crown it's clear, their irresponsible behaviour effectively undid all the hard work put in by the club's players and staff to achieve what most people thought impossible and a stand must be taken to avoid any repetition in the future. It's a tough lesson to learn for all.
There is no word on whether any action has been taken by the AFC against Taiwan Power Company.

Cup competitions

The AFC President's Cup trophy

I've heard some news about the Hun Sen Cup and the AFC President's Cup which I'll mention below, though we're still waiting to hear the outcome of the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) investigation into the events that took place in the AFC President's Cup Final in Taiwan, both before and after the final whistle. The suits at the AFC have been pondering this for some time now - the final was played on 25 September - more than two months ago, and yet we're still awaiting their final decision. Various AFC competition committees met this week and have ratified the competition rules for the 2012 AFC President's Cup, where Phnom Penh Crown will again represent Cambodia, after winning last season's Metfone C-League championship. The President's Cup will be competed for by twelve national league champions and the Group stage will determine the six teams that then qualify for the Final Group stage and then the Final itself, identical to what happened this time around. The initial Group stage at venues to be decided will likely be in May with the Final stage set for September, though confirmed dates will be known later. A new face in the competition for 2012 will be Mongolia, who will fill the void created after Myanmar clubs were granted a place in the AFC Cup. The Mongolian championship, decided in September, saw FC Ulaanbaatar win the title for the first time. Taking their leave of the AFC President's Cup will be Myanmar, whose application to join the AFC Cup was accepted by the AFC competition's committee. Their domestic league champions Yangon United now have direct entry to the 2012 AFC Cup while runners-up Ayeyawady United will compete in the four-team play-offs against Malaysia's knockout cup champions Terengganu in the East Zone, while FC Victory from the Maldives and Yemen's Al Tilal will contest the West Zone play-off. The winners of the play-offs will join the four losers from Round 2 of the AFC Champions League play-offs and the 26 other clubs in the group stage. With a fair wind, Myanmar could have two clubs in the latter stages of the AFC Cup. That could've been Cambodia, if our own FFC had got their finger out when the AFC asked for applications. Closer to home, the 2012 Hun Sen Cup will begin on 7 January with representative and club teams from the provinces fighting amongst themselves (not literally I hope) in five regional qualifying mini-leagues. The winner of each region (north, south, east, west and central) and three best runners-up will advance to the group stage. That's when the top 8 C-League teams (including Phnom Penh Crown) will join the fray, alongwith the 8 provincial reps, in 4 groups of 4 teams. These Group stage matches will begin on 20 January and last for a couple of weeks, with all matches being played in Phnom Penh. Following that, we enter the final eight-club knock-out stage. Further confirmation of dates, etc to follow in due course.

The waiting game

The Crown squad and staff wait to collect their AFC President's Cup runners-up medals in Taiwan

We are still awaiting the outcome of the AFC investigation into the circumstances of the last few moments of the AFC President's Cup between Phnom Penh Crown and the hosts, Taiwan Power Company. The match was played on 25 September and the AFC have had access to the referee's report and the television footage by the local tv station, as well as reports and statements from both clubs. The punishment for the three Crown players red-carded for pushing referee Marai Mohammed Alawaji from Saudi Arabia after he failed to award a nailed-on penalty in injury-time, remains to be seen, as does any disciplinary fall-out from the fighting that took place at the final whistle between both camps. There's no point in speculating what the AFC might do until they reach their conclusion. However, there was a somewhat similar incident with players and officials brawling in the full glare of the television cameras, in a recent AFC Champions League match, and the disciplinary committee issued a six-game ban on two coaches and a player after handing out 1 match suspensions to a handful of others.

End of the road

After their abject failure at the AFC President's Cup and a disastrous league campaign, Myanmar's Yadanarbon have sacked their French manager, Yoan Girard and replaced him with Brazilian Jose Alves Borges. That is despite Girard guiding the club to a President's Cup victory in 2010, two Myanmar league championships and a Myanmar Cup success in the three years he was at the helm. You are only as good as your last game is the age-old football adage, and in Girard's case, his previous record counted for nothing as his services were dispensed with. Girard coached in France and Morocco as well as with Muangthong in Thailand, before linking up with Yadanarbon. The club have returned to Muangthong for their next coach, with Borges acting as the Thai club's technical director this year after previous coaching success with junior Thai teams and Tobacco Monopoly, who won the Thai title in 2004, and TTM Phichit in the Thai Premier. To spice up their pre-season Yadanarbon have announced that they will undertake a European tour and meet Division 2 clubs in Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium in June next year. In this season's AFC President's Cup they lost 4-0 to Phnom Penh Crown and then 8-2 to Neftchi, which was simply too much for the club's owners to take. The club eventually finished in 9th spot in the 12-team league championship, which was won by Yangon United. The other team that Phnom Penh Crown faced, and beat, in the group stage of the AFC President's Cup, Neftchi from Kyrgyzstan, finished runners-up in their league title race, with Dordoi-Dynamo reclaiming the trophy they'd won six times in a row before Neftchi's 2010 success.

Pipe-dream for Crown

The word on the street was that an invitation for Cambodia's league champions to play in the AFC Cup next season was on the table, which would've catapulted Cambodia into the next sphere of Asian continental football. Instead, the invitation remained unopened by the Cambodian football federation and because of their lethargy, Myanmar have picked up the baton and look likely to get the nod for 2012. How short-sighted of the FFC. That means Phnom Penh Crown will again take part in the AFC President's Cup, the competition for twelve league champions from countries regarded by the AFC's Vision Asia program as Emerging Nations. This does not take into account the FIFA World Ranking but has everything to do with a country's football competitiveness, professionalism, marketability and the financial status of the league and its clubs. The AFC President's Cup is the third tier of cup competition, the AFC Cup is the second tier lying under the AFC Champions League, which is for Mature Nations and competed for by the top 14 countries in the AFC region. The moniker for the AFC Cup is for Developing Nations, and though the competition has been dominated by west Asian countries since its formation, it certainly includes countries and teams, 32 in all, that would've been exciting to be involved with. The southeast Asian countries include Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Maldives, whilst the west Asian countries are India, Kuwait, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Lebanon, Yemen and Uzbekistan. Myanmar look set to join in that party. In their place, Mongolia have put their hand up to join the AFC President's Cup, with group games tentatively scheduled for the first two weeks of May 2012. The country champions will come from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Mongolia, if accepted. So for the time being, playing in the AFC Cup will remain a pipe-dream for Phnom Penh Crown.

Pheak in the frame

Something we all like to see, Kouch Sokumpheak celebrating another of his goals, this time against Yadanarbon [courtesy of www.the-afc.com]

A few official AFC photographs taken at the recent AFC President's Cup final stages in Taiwan, all showing our very own number 10, Phnom Penh Crown's Kouch Sokumpheak, in action. Before this season's competition, Sokumpheak appeared twice in previous AFC President's Cup competitions, both for Khemara Keila, back in 2006 and 2007, scoring 4 goals in 7 matches.

Sokumpheak is fending off Yadanarbon's Htoo Aung during Crown's 4-0 group stage success [courtesy of www.the-afc.com]

Kouch Sokumpheak in motion in the ill-fated final against Taiwan Power with Yu-Lin Chen in hot pursuit [courtesy of www.the-afc.com]

Jobsworth

The first-class national stadium at Kaohsiung

I had to choke back the vitriol when I read on the AFC website that the AFC suits had publicly praised the local organising committee for hosting the AFC President's Cup final stage so well. Yes, that's the same committee who sent Phnom Penh Crown to a training session on the eve of the final where there was no grass surface available to use, the same committee who provided us with a liaison officer who was worse than useless, they promised live online screening of the match that didn't happen, there were numerous other 'jobsworth' incidents that left a bitter taste, including their failure to provide us with a DVD of the final match before our departure, despite being asked numerous times. The first chance we had to see highlights from the final was on YouTube. That simply isn't good enough. Personally, I didn't think it was a good idea to corral all six teams in the same hotel and Taipower's late-night fleeing under armed police guard after the final reflected that. Admittedly, the stadium for the final stage was about as good as it gets and is definitely a blueprint for a national stadium that Cambodia would do well to look at. The facilities at the stadium were first-class. The AFC also announced that Myanmar look set to join the second-tier cup competition, the AFC Cup, next season after getting off their arse and doing something about meeting the qualification standards, which the Cambodian Federation failed miserably to do, whilst their replacements in the AFC President's Cup may well be Mongolia, where FC Ulaanbaatar have just won the national championships.

Completely underwhelmed

Top scorer He (7) and MVP Chen (26) wait to collect their awards last night

Taipower not only walked away with the AFC President's Cup trophy last night, they also picked up the competition awards for the Top Goalscorer and the Most Valuable Player. With 4 players on five goals each and Crown's Kingsley Njoku on 4 goals for the whole tournament, it was Taipower's Ming-Chan He, with his two goals in last night's final, that leap-frogged everyone to collect the goalscorer's trophy. The Abdullah Al Dabal (former FIFA executive committee member) Most Valuable Player award also went to a Taipower player, forward Po-Liang Chen, who got the nod over other worthy candidates. The AFC Fair Play Award went to Neftchi Kochkor-Ata. The Kygrzystan team failed to make it out of Group B but picked up the award anyway. All of these awards were made by the AFC suits, so aside from the top scorer, no-one has any idea how they arrived at these results.
To say that I am completely underwhelmed by the suits at the AFC is a massive understatement. Ranging from their absurd decision to allow Taipower to wear their preferred playing kit for the final, to their complete dereliction of duty of care when Crown were sent to the wrong training facility a day before the final, to their selection of the Final referee, who was let's say, less than equitable with his decisions, as well as misinformation about the online screening of matches and other questions that were deflected or went unanswered. They even made David Booth sit through two post-match press conferences last night, which is a misnomer in itself, as at every press conference we attended, there was one western journalist working for the AFC website and that was it. A complete lack of Taiwanese journalists was frankly, an embarrassment. Equally, the attendance at the Final last night was also a joke. Just over 3,200 people bothered to turn up in a country where Baseball rules the roost and no-one seems to give a fig for football. If the premise behind awarding Taiwan the final stage of this year's AFC President's Cup was designed to help promote football in this nation, it fell completely on its arse. If I sound bitter, then that's because I am. If we had been treated with due respect and equality then we'd have no complaints, but we clearly were not and the decision of the match referee in time added on was the icing on the cake. We have to deal with our irresponsible behaviour that followed, but I really think the AFC need to look at the part they played in setting the scene.

Moments of madness

We worked so hard for this, only to fail at the final hurdle. Taipower celebrate their success.

It's an empty feeling, the morning after a cup final defeat. The 'what if's' are swirling around but for Phnom Penh Crown all the hard work that went into getting to the AFC President's cup final and nearly pulling off a great fightback, was undone by a few moments of madness. The consequences of those mindless moments will come back to haunt us I'm sure. We'll have to take that fallout on the chin, but it's painful to see how much hinges on one decision, or in this case, a non-decision by the match referee. To be frank he gave us nothing the whole game except the most obvious red card that even he couldn't shy away from. For a team that was in the running for the Fair Play award, we picked up five cautions in the game (as well as three red cards), whilst Taipower picked up none. The referee awarded them a penalty when everyone saw it was a dive, we were frustrated by free-kicks and decisions not going our way and then the last straw was the nailed-on penalty in time added on, that he simply waved away. Of course, he was a 'homer,' after our treatment in the last couple of days, we shouldn't have expected anything less, but when three of our most senior players lost their heads and started shoving the referee, that was when all of our hard work went down the drain. What should've been a great run in the competition, a proud and valiant attempt by a Cambodian club to make a major impact in an international club cup competition, and very nearly a great comeback in the final, went out of the window. Big-time. What happened after the final whistle was inexcusable from both teams and both clubs must face the music for that as well. I'm gutted, we are all gutted, but we let ourselves down by our actions in what should've been our finest hour.

Coach David Booth at the post-match press conference

The Crown squad collect their medals

The Crown squad wait to receive their medals at the closing ceremony

A very subdued Crown team after the match

Match action from last night. The bulk of the spectators are on the far side.

The Taiwan Power Company line-up

Thul Sothearith greets the AFC Vice-President Prince Abdullah Shah

The expectant Crown bench before the kick-off

The Crown players awaiting the VIP handshakes

Before the game kicks-off, its time for VIP introductions

The Crown starting line-up awaits pre-match formalities

Nervous moments in the tunnel before the game

Final words of encouragement from coach David Booth to his starting eleven

In the dressing rooms moments before the players leave

Tactical-talk from the Crown coaches

Players in their dressing-room cubicles

Head coach David Booth explaining how he wants his team to play

Ugly scenes at the final whistle, instigated by Taipower (photo courtesy of www.the-afc.com)

Crown go down 2-3 in the Final

Taiwan Power Company celebrate their cup success

Phnom Penh Crown lost 2-3 to Taiwan Power Company (aka Taipower) in tonight's Final of the AFC President's Cup. But the scoreline tells only half the story. With Crown pushing hard for an equalizer as the clock ran down into four minutes of added-on time at the end of a pulsating cup final, referee Marai Mohammed Alawaji from Saudi Arabia, refused to award the Cambodian team a nailed-on penalty when Hong Ratana evaded two defenders in the penalty area but was caught on the ankle by Tu Ming-Feng. The referee waved play on but was immediately surrounded by a posse of Crown players, incensed by his non-decision, and in quick succession, three players pushed the official in the chest. After order was restored and a consultation with his linesmen, Alawaji flashed the red card to Sun Sovannrithy, Chan Chaya and San Narith for their actions. The final whistle blew soon after and as the Taipower players began to celebrate, substitute Kuao-Kai Pan raced from the bench to attack Hong Ratana from behind, sparking a mass brawl between players from both sides that only subsided when the head coaches intervened. It was a shocking end to a fiery cup final that also saw Taipower lose Yu-Lin Chen to a straight red card with 12 minutes remaining, for a shirt pull on Sok Pheng as he was running through on goal. Crown head coach David Booth's reaction was one of obvious disappointment. "We made too many mistakes today and it's cost us. We fought back in the game and in the last five minutes we could've equalized. The referee decided not to give us anything. It was a definite penalty, our player chested the ball down past two players and was brought down. The referee has got to be answerable for his decision, though I'd like to see it again. At the end, we saw the frustration of our players. Overall we did well. We could've lost by a bigger margin but we fought back and I'm just sorry for the players that they didn't get the chance to equalize."

Fielding an unchanged line-up for the third game, Crown went behind in the third minute when Kuo Ying-Hung evaded Odion Obadin on the bye-line and his floated center was headed in by an unmarked He Ming-Chan. Despite that setback, Crown pushed on and Kouch Sokumpheak's bye-line cross was mis-controlled in the box by Chan Chaya, whilst a dangerous low center by Sun Sovannrithy was turned behind under pressure. On the twenty minute mark, Chaya's quick feet failed to control a Sokumpheak pass though the striker was upended by Chien-Wei Liang as the ball ran through to keeper Pan Wei-Chih. Crown's equalizer came on 35 minutes when Kingsley Njoku fired home from ten yards after Thul Sothearith's cross was chested down by Khim Borey in the box and Njoku applied the finishing touch. Yi-Wei Chen saw a header fizz well wide after he made a good run into a dangerous area, whilst Crown keeper Peng Bunchhay showed his agility to claw away a free-kick from Ying-Hung a few minutes before the interval. Njoku's forceful run was halted when his shot was blocked and Chaya's intended pass to Sokumpheak was cut out in the last action of the first-half.

As they'd done in the first-half, Taipower took the lead in the third minute after the restart. Po-Liang Chen evaded Tieng Tiny's challenge and fed He Ming-Chan, and the striker made no mistake with his sixth goal of the tournament, firing low across the face of Bunchhay in the Crown goal. Crown were certainly not finding favour with the Saudi Arabian referee, who booked Sothearith and Obadin but failed to reach for his cards for similar infractions by the home team. On 63 minutes, referee Alawaji felt he saw a trip from Obadin on Po-Liang Chen, though the defender, and his teammates, protested his innocence, but justice was done when Kai-Chun Hung skied the penalty kick high and wide. Njoku and Sokumpheak combined to harry the Taipower defence but to no avail and on 67 minutes, the host team increased their lead. Kai-Chun Hung's byeline cross was fumbled by Bunchhay and Po-Liang Chen was on hand to tap the ball home, much to the delight of the paltry 3, 238 home crowd. Crown introduced striker Sok Pheng and as he moved onto a Chaya pass, his shirt was pulled as he shaped to shoot and the referee had no alternative but to dismiss Yu-Lin Chen on 78 minutes. With Crown forcing the issue, a San Narith corner evaded the punch of keeper Pan Wei-Chih and Sun Sovannrithy had the easy task to nod home at the far post with 7 minutes remaining. Game on. As the clock ticked over into four minutes of additional time, Narith's pass fell to Sokumpheak but his half-volley went straight to Wei-Chih, as did Obadin's header from a Chaya corner kick before the penalty appeal, that referee Alawaji waved away. The fracas that followed took the shine off a fabulous Crown performance in the competition that stumbled at the final hurdle but will be remembered for taking Crown further than ever before in the AFC President's Cup.
Crown line-up: Bunchhay, Sovannrithy, Sothearith, Tiny (Sovan 66), Obadin, Narith, Sopanha (Ratana 80), Borey (S Pheng 68), Chaya, Njoku, Sokumpheak. Subs not used: Visokra, Dara, Vanthan, Virak, Sophanal, Sophta, H Pheng. Bookings: Tiny, Sothearith, Obadin, Chaya, Sopanha. Sent off: Sovannrithy, Chaya, Narith.

The Crown players and officials line up to receive their runners-up medals

The Crown players looking non-plussed after an attack on them by the Taipower bench at the final whistle

The Crown line-up for tonight's game. Back Row LtoR: Njoku, Tiny, Sovannrithy, Obadin, Sothearith, Bunchhay. Front Row: Borey, Sokumpheak, Chaya Narith, Sopanha

Crown line up before the VIP handshakes

The man at the center of the controversy, the Saudi Arabian referee catches his coin, with Crown skipper Thul Sothearith (blue)

The Crown team waiting in the tunnel before the game

Saudi in charge

At the team manager's meeting yesterday, I asked for the match officials details for tonight's AFC President's Cup Final. The referee's director refused to provide it and said it would follow later by email. Presumably, they hadn't decided at that time who would be in the middle for the cup final. I was hoping for the South Korean referee, Kim Jong Hyeok, who was spot-on in his officiating for our match against Neftchi. However, the AFC later told us that the referee would be Alawaji Marai Mohammed from Saudi Arabia, with Saudi and Bahrain linesmen. Crown haven't had them during this tournament, though they were in charge when Taipower beat FC Istiklol earlier in the competition. That was the game that was totally ruined by the waterlogged pitch.

Shambolic

On arrival at Fengshan, there's a game already going on

What a shambles. The most important thing to go wrong today was Phnom Penh Crown's final training session before the AFC President's Cup Final, which takes place at 7pm tomorrow night. We had delayed our session so that head coach David Booth and team captain Thul Sothearith could attend the pre-Final press conference. We put ourselves out for the AFC. After it finished, we headed to the Fengshan Stadium, some 40 minutes driving-time from the hotel, for our 90 minutes training session. It never took place. On the pitch when we arrived was a girl's match and they refused to budge. Frantic phone calls to the AFC and the local organizing committee produced no successful outcome, so the Crown squad were forced to train on the rubber athletic track surrounding the pitch. This made it impossible for David Booth and his players, especially his goalkeepers, to do anything other than stretches, running and passing. The day before the most important game in Crown's history and we are seriously disadvantaged by the local committee, who later called and said they'd made a mistake and sent us to the wrong location. My arse. We play against the host team, Taipower tomorrow and any advantage they can get, they will take . What a coincidence that we are sent to a training facility where we cannot train adequately. The suits at the AFC have to seriously look into this fiasco or they will be tainted by the stench that is coming out of this very smelly situation.

But that's not all. At the team manager's meeting just after noon, rules and regulations are read out, everyone nods and it's sorted. Not on this occasion. Phnom Penh Crown have been drawn as the home team for the final. That effectively gives them first dibs on team colours, dressing room, etc. However, Taipower wanted to wear their second playing kit as they'd won their last game wearing it. The jersey is red, the same colour as Crown's. We stuck to our guns and said we will play in our first-choice kit. The AFC suits suggested Taipower wear their second strip and change their shorts, but the hosts complained that it would look "ugly." Then to our amazement, the AFC agreed to Taipower's request and rode roughshod over their own gentleman's understanding, making Crown change their complete playing strip and also the goalkeeper's colours as well. So much for being drawn at home. The hosts got exactly what they wanted and the AFC caved into their demands. I'm still scratching my head over how this was allowed to happen by the AFC suits.

"We won't accept this treatment, will we!" David Booth tells his squad

The surface only allowed stretching, running and simple passing

"Get a good stretch, you make history tomorrow."

"Do you catch my drift," says coach David Booth, alongside Sun Sopanha

Khim Borey listens to head coach David Booth's words at today's shortened training session

Taipower get to final

Taiwan Power Company line-up tonight (courtesy of www.the-afc.com)

Phnom Penh Crown will meet the host team, Taiwan Power Company (aka Taipower), in the final of the AFC President's Cup on Sunday 25 September, after they overcame a 3-1 deficit to grab a 4-3 victory when it looked as though they were heading out of the competition tonight. Backed by a paltry crown of just over 2,000, Taiwan Power were hit a double body blow with two goals from FC Balkan's nippy striker Amir Gurbani, in the 24th and 25th minutes. Thinking they were heading to the final as they coasted at the start of the 2nd half, the Balkan coach replaced Gurbani on 55 minutes and from then on it went pear-shaped. Two minutes later Ming-Chan He netted for Taiwan and even though Balkan went further ahead through Garahanov a few minutes later, the tide was beginning to turn in the home side's favour. A soft penalty was converted by He to make it 2-3 and with less than ten minutes to go, Taiwan snatched a third goal that would be enough to send them to the final, as they only needed a draw. Skipper Yin-Hung Kuo poked it home at the second attempt and then Po-Liang Chen added the icing on the cake with three minutes to go. Balkan lost their heads and two players to red cards in time added on.

The Crown squad were watching tonight's match and their cup final opponents

In the final match of Crown's Group B, effectively a dead rubber between Neftchi from Kyrgyzstan and Yadanarbon, the qualifying round winners from Phnom Penh, showed their power in thrashing the Myanmar team 8-2, scoring no less than six goals in the final 16 minutes. Just after the half hour mark Neftchi had opened up a two-goal lead but were pegged back two minutes after the break to 2-2. Then all hell let loose in the final quarter as Yadanarbon simply caved in time after time. Pavel Pavlov claimed a hat-trick, Talaibek Dzhumataev scored twice, as did Ruslan Djamshidov, with Raul Dzhalilov also netting. Pai Soe and an own goal were the Yadanarbon scorers. The Myanmar coach complained that his players were tired, made mistakes and didn't have enough rest between games. Neftchi meanwhile were just happy to have the experience of playing in this competition.

The Taipower team celebrate reaching the final with their supporters