What's next for the national team

The Cambodian U-22 national team conclude their AFC U-22 Asian Cup qualifying group matches this evening, when they play the hosts Laos at 7pm. Cambodia have already failed to qualify, winning their opening game against Hong Kong but falling well short in their next three matches against Thailand, China and North Korea. They'd like to save some face by beating Laos, but the host nation will also want to keep face with their own fans, so the likelihood is that Laos will prevail. I'll bring you the final result later tonight. Update: Cambodia managed a point from their final Group F match with a 3-3 draw with hosts Laos U-22s tonight, thanks to a penalty save from keeper Sou Yaty eight minutes from time. Chhin Chhoeun and Tith Dina put Cambodia ahead twice in the first-half but they still went in level pegging at the break. Laos took the lead just before the hour and then sub Phourng Soksana made it 3-3 minutes later. Pov Phearith came on as a sub and with two yellow cards in two minutes late on, saw red. Despite having the majority of possession, the home team couldn't quite satisfy a crowd of 9,800 with a winning goal.

Once the Cambodian team and coaches return from Laos, the Football Federation will have to make some snappy decisions about the future of the senior national team. They have already revealed that South Korean coach Lee Tae-Hoon is on his bike back to Korea after a thoroughly dismal 21 months in charge. The Federation have indicated in the media that they will look to go local with their next appointment. Presumably, they were hoping that Prak Sokmony's stint in charge of the U-22s would come up smelling of roses, but that hasn't happened. Despite the Federation's bravado of saying Cambodia now has a batch of coaches with A-Licence credentials, they are woefully devoid of credible international-level experience except Prak Sovannara, currently at the helm of NagaCorp. He would be the obvious choice, but the Federation may have other irons in the fire. We'll have to wait and see what they pull out of the hat this time around.

The next big competition involving Cambodia is not that far away. Qualification matches for the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup will take place in early October in Myanmar against the hosts, Brunei, Laos and Timor Leste. Two teams will then progress to the competition proper, which will be split between hosts Thailand and Malaysia at the end of November. The complete lack of an international playing schedule of matches for the senior national team in preparation for the Suzuki Cup competition is a recipe for disaster, but will not come as a surprise to anyone. The last game for the senior national team was their World Cup fiasco in Laos last July. A year ago. All matches since that time have been at U-21, U-23 and U-22 level. This contrasts starkly with the Philippines for example, who have already scheduled twenty-plus matches for their national team leading up to the Suzuki Cup, including a tour of the United States, hosting a 4-team tournament as well as training camps in Bahrain and Japan. Now that's what I call planning ahead.

U22s beaten again

Catching up with the latest football. However, nothing new to report as the Cambodia U-22 national team, taking part in the qualifying group matches for the AFC U-22 Asian Cup suffered another defeat yesterday afternoon. This time it was North Korea's U-22s that strolled to a 3-0 win with two first-half goals and another late on to settle the game. Korea and China are the two teams that qualify for next years' final stage, with one game of the qualifiers still to come. Cambodia have now lost three of their four qualifying games, with a single success over Hong Kong to show for their efforts. They meet hosts Laos, who beat Hong Kong 2-0 yesterday, in their final match on Tuesday evening. What had promised much after their thrashing of the Philippines in their final warm-up match before the competition began, has turned into the damp squib that we've all become accustomed to over the past two years under the previous coaching regime. This time around a Khmer coach, Prak Sokmony, has been at the helm but the results have an all too familiar ring to them.

China success

The Cambodian U-22 national team found the going too tough again this afternoon, failing 3-0 against the China U-22s in Vientiane, Laos in their qualifying encounter in the AFC U-22 Asian Cup. Two goals either side of the half-hour mark gave Cambodia a mountain to climb against their better-on-the-day opponents, who netted again near the end of the game to seal their third straight qualifying win to lead the Group F table. Cambodia now meet North Korea on Saturday, who beat Hong Kong 1-nil this afternoon.

Restoring normality

With confidence on the rise after beating Hong Kong and fans back home clamouring for a first-ever win against the Thais, the Cambodian U-22 team went into yesterday's second match in the AFC U-22 Asian Cup qualifiers with more hope than usual. Sadly, a 4-0 reversal to the Thailand U-22s in the Laos capital of Vientiane sent hopes and dreams crashing and restored some semblance of normality. Quite simply, the Thais were too strong and scored twice around the half-hour mark, then finished the job with two goals in the last twenty minutes. Sok Sovan and Chea Samnang were left out of the starting line-up but will likely return for the next match, on Thursday, against group leaders China, who brushed aside Hong Kong 5-1. North Korea overcame the hosts, Laos 2-1. So its back to the drawing board for Prak Sokmony to lift his team ahead of their toughest task, with matches against North Korea (Saturday) and Laos (Tuesday) to follow. I must admit the defeat against the Thais came as no surprise.

A dream start

The Cambodian u-22 team will be drinking in the sweet smell of success this morning after opening their AFC U-22 Asian Cup qualifying with a 3-2 victory over Hong Kong U-22s yesterday afternoon. Their win will give them renewed confidence to face Thailand on Monday in their next game, especially with the Thais suffering a 4-2 defeat by North Korea. Prak Sokmony's youngsters opened the scoring on ten minutes through Sos Suhana before Hong Kong drew level five minutes after the break. Two quick-fire goals from Phoung Soksana and Nen Sothearoth midway through the second half put Cambodia in the driving seat with a very late consolation from their opponents making it 3-2, in front of 200 spectators. Defender Sok Sovan was hospitalised after he collapsed on 54 minutes after getting an elbow to the head, but was later released to join his colleagues at their hotel to celebrate their unexpected success. In the other Group F match, China scored twice in the 1st half to defeat the hosts, Laos.

U-22s on their way

The Cambodian U-22 squad just before departure for Laos

The Cambodian U-22 squad pose for an undated photo, most likely taken in the last day or so, before they depart for the AFC U-22 Asian Cup qualifying matches in Laos. It was published on facebook rather than through any official channel and there's only twenty players, so presumably the squad has been reduced. Or two of the players were stuck in the loo. The ones absent from the photo-call are Um Vichet and Ke Vannak, both Army players. And yes, there are no less than five coaches and a physio on the front seats. There's been no official announcement of the squad or their schedule before the games kick-off this coming Saturday when Cambodia meet Hong Kong. Below are the U-22s fixtures, in which I expect them to struggle, despite their morale-boosting 5-1 success against the Philippines recently. Tournament qualifiers are a far different kettle of fish especially when you are meeting the likes of China, Korea and Thailand. They will take no prisoners.

• Sat 23 June: Hong Kong v Cambodia
• Mon 25 June: Thailand v Cambodia
• Thu 28 June: Cambodia v China PR
• Sat 30 June: Cambodia v Korea DPR
• Tue 3 July: Laos v Cambodia

Looking ahead

After this weekend's Metfone C-League matches have been completed, the league competition will take another mini-break, hot on the heels of the mid-season pause. The reason is that 22 of the country's brightest prospects will be winging their way to Laos to take part in the brand new AFC U-22 Asian Cup with the Cambodian U-22 national team, under head coach Prak Sokmony. Initially the C-League authorities had ignored this new competition when they formulated their fixture list, but they've had a re-think and have now left a gap in the domestic fixtures which will begin after Sunday's matches and will last until they re-start on Wednesday 11 July. The squad for the U-22s has been announced and were involved in this week's 5-1 success over the touring Philippines U-22s, which has put the Cambodians in good heart for their first match in the Asian Cup next Saturday, 23 June against Hong Kong. Their fixtures in the cup are as follows:

• Sat 23 June: Hong Kong v Cambodia
• Mon 25 June: Thailand v Cambodia
• Thu 28 June: Cambodia v China PR
• Sat 30 June: Cambodia v Korea DPR
• Tue 3 July: Laos v Cambodia

The 22-strong squad chosen by Prak Sokmony is as follows:
Sou Yaty, Um Vichet, Sar Sophea, Touch Pancharong, Nen Sothearoth, Khiev Vibol, Ol Ravy, Sok Sovan, Ke Vannak, Khek Khemarin, Sob Ravy, Moul Daravorn, Chea Samnang, Soun Veasna, Pov Phearith, Tith Dina, Chhin Chhoeun, Heng Sokly, Keo Sokngorn, Sos Suhana, Phoung Soksana, Tum Saray.
7 of the players are with the Army team, six with Preah Khan Reach and the others are split between National Police, Phnom Penh Crown, Boeung Ket and BBU. It's pretty much a squad that picks itself. Midfield is perhaps its strongest area whilst in attack, the absence of a consistent out-n-out goalscorer could be their undoing, though there are plenty of players able to chip in with a goal or two, as Sos Suhana showed on Wednesday. Defensively is where I would pose the most question marks, especially against the high standard of opposition they will encounter in the likes of China, Korea and Thailand. Those countries will be taking the competition very seriously and must be amongst the favourites to go all the way. There are nine defenders in the squad and Sokmony will need to work some magic to select the best four to cope with the tough matches ahead. Fortunately he is blessed with three good goalkeepers as a last line of defence. We await the competition with great interest.

New minimalist design

U-22s national jersey, June 2012 edition

The Cambodian U-22 team met with the Philippines yesterday sporting a new strip. In fact the playing kit is never the same for any two games on the trot that I can recall. Perhaps the contract with the old kit supplier, Jako with the big red winking tomato plastered across the shirt has been thrown out with the dishwater (and the exit of the Korean coach). The new strip, which incorporates the most minimal of design elements and no sponsorship, is presumably the one which the U-22s will wear in the upcoming Asian Cup. It's produced by the leading Thailand-based FBT sportswear company, who are the market leaders next door but the chosen design doesn't exactly set the world alight, does it. It didn't even carry the players names on the back of the shirt, just to ease identification. Even the country badge, showing the towers of Angkor Wart, is a slightly different design. Anyhow, it's not the shirt but what is in it that really matters come the AFC U-22 Asian Cup in Laos in nine days time.

National team jersey, June 2011 edition

Breathing confidence

Coach Prak Sokmony is interviewed before the match

More photos from this afternoon's 5-1 Cambodian U-22s success over the visiting Philippines U-22s, which has breathed confidence into the team and the Cambodian fans judging by comments on Facebook, though that really needs to be tempered by the quality of the opposition, who were beaten 9-1 by Thailand a few days ago. Still it's a positive step forward for the Cambodian youngsters, after the last twenty months or so of utter mediocrity and worse under the South Korean coach. Responsibility for the U-22s was given instead to Prak Sokmony and he's been working with his squad, playing matches against a few C-League teams (versus Naga won 3-2, Nat Police drew 1-1, Boeung Ket drew 2-2, BBU drew 1-1) and then a stint in Vietnam (where they drew 0-0 v Saigon FC) before today's game. All leading towards the AFC U-22 Asian Cup that will kick-off in Laos in ten days time. The Cambodian U-22s fixtures are as follows and their toughest matches look to be against Thailand, China and Korea:

• Sat 23 June: Hong Kong v Cambodia
• Mon 25 June: Thailand v Cambodia
• Thu 28 June: Cambodia v China PR
• Sat 30 June: Cambodia v Korea DPR
• Tue 3 July: Laos v Cambodia

The spokesman for the Cambodian federation had this to say about the upcoming qualifying competition for the 2013 finals. "The U22 Asian Cup is a brand new AFC concept. It is crucial that we perform well in Laos. This age group represents the nucleus for our future competitions like the AFF Suzuki Cup and beyond." Though a successful tournament would be great for Cambodian football after such a spell in the doldrums, the opposition will be tough and even Hong Kong and Laos will be considerably better opposition than the Philippines. The Suzuki Cup - which will be played in October - is at senior international level so the federation spokesman seems to be disregarding many of the over-22 players who would literally walk into a senior team squad ahead of many of this U-22 squad.

Captain Keo Sokngorn leads out the Cambodia team

The players enter the pitch before the game

The Cambodian team sing their national anthem

The substitutes stand for the national anthem

The Philippines U-22 starting XI

The captains exchange handshakes

In the middle is Sos Suhana (13), scorer of the first two goals flanked by Soun Veasna and Chea Samnang

U-22s off to Vietnam

Hong Pheng from PPCFC, called into the Cambodia U-22 squad

After the football federation here finally saw sense and amended the Metfone C-League programme to take into account the AFC U-22 Asian Cup matches taking place at the end of June, the Cambodian U-22 squad are off to Vietnam for a friendly match against Saigon FC in the middle of next week. Three Phnom Penh Crown players have been included in the 27-man squad with Sok Sovan and Sos Suhana being joined by new addition Hong Pheng. In the travelling party are eight players from the Army and seven from Preah Khan Reach. As I've mentioned previously, I find it very strange that the U-22s are being looked after by head coach Prak Somony, whilst the full-time head coach of the senior national team, Lee Tae-Hoon, sits around twiddling his thumbs and seemingly doing bugger all whilst he waits for the AFF Suzuki Cup qualifiers in Myanmar, scheduled for early October. There have been no games for the full national team for ages and the term 'money for old rope' springs readily to mind. Presumably, he has got the federation to agree to a series of tough international warm-up games ahead of the Suzuki Cup (I say that with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek) though if he has, he's keeping the schedule firmly under wraps at the moment. Now let's see, if history repeats itself, the warm-up games will be against a Korean University outfit, local domestic teams and some Vietnam B-teams. Oh, and I hear the Khmers from France, who now play under the Euro-Khmer banner, are coming over again in September to play the national team, Preah Khan Reach and a Thai club team. I suppose I'd better reserve judgement on them until I see them in the flesh.

The AFC U-22 Asian Cup has been introduced for the first time this year and the AFC expect it to become the second biggest national team competition in the football calendar, eventually acting as the Olympics qualifier. 41 national teams are taking part at 7 venues with six groups of six teams and one group of five. The top two teams in each group progress, as well as the best of the third-placed teams. Laos will host the Group F that contains Cambodia, at their National Stadium and at the Chao Anouvong Stadium. The Cambodia U-22 matches are as follows:

• Sat 23 June: Hong Kong v Cambodia
• Mon 25 June: Thailand v Cambodia
• Thu 28 June: Cambodia v China PR
• Sat 30 June: Cambodia v Korea DPR
• Tue 3 July: Laos v Cambodia

Common sense prevails

The football federation here in Cambodia appear to have received an infusion of common sense. Their original fixture list for the Metfone C-League season did not take into account the participation of the Cambodian U-22 team in the brand new AFC U-22 Asian Cup competition, with Cambodia involved in Group F to be played in Laos towards the end of June. Presumably someone must've switched on the lights for them and they've now confirmed major amendments to the C-League fixtures for the second half of the season. There will be no matches whilst the U-22s are in Laos - they play five matches between 23 June and 3 July - and for Phnom Penh Crown their fixture list for the rest of the season has been changed to the following:

Wed 6 June v Army - 2.30pm
Sat 9 June v National Police - 2.30pm
Sun 17 June v Western Uni - 4.30pm
Wed 11 July v Boeung Ket - 3pm
Sat 21 July v Chhlam Samuth - 4.30pm
Sat 28 July v BBU - 2.30pm
Sat 4 August v Kirivong - 2.30pm
Sun 12 August v Army - 2.30pm
Sun 19 August v NagaCorp - 4.30pm
Sat 25 August v Preah Khan Reach - 2.30pm

U-22 clash of fixtures

Sos Suhana - will likely play for Cambodia in the AFC U-22 Asian Cup

With Sok Sovan and Sos Suhana involved in Phnom Penh Crown's AFC President's Cup and Singapore Cup matches, they have been missing from the Cambodian U-22 national team training sessions and practice matches in recent weeks. It's inevitable that their club gets first dibs on them for these important matches of course, whilst they are simply preparing for the national squad. Looking forwards, the AFC U-22 Asian Cup tournament involving Cambodia will take place at the end of June and early July. That means that Cambodia will be playing U-22 games during the current Metfone C-League campaign and according to the fixture schedule, Suhana and Sovan, if selected for the U-22s, and they will be, are set to miss two PPCFC matches against Chhlam Samuth on 23 June and BBU on 30 June. Of course this applies to all the C-League teams with players in the squad and beggars the question, why weren't the season's fixtures amended to take into account this new competition, rather than force clubs to play without some of their very best players in crucial C-League matches. It's certainly a question I'd like to hear answered by the Cambodian football federation.

The AFC U-22 Asian Cup has been introduced for the first time this year and the AFC expect it to become the second biggest national team competition in the football calendar, eventually acting as the Olympics qualifier. 41 national teams are taking part at 7 venues with six groups of six teams and one group of five. The top two teams in each group progress, as well as the best of the third-placed teams. Laos will host the Group F that contains Cambodia at their National Stadium and at the Chao Anouvong Stadium. The Cambodia U-22 matches are as follows:

• Sat 23 June: Hong Kong v Cambodia
• Mon 25 June: Thailand v Cambodia
• Thu 28 June: Cambodia v China PR
• Sat 30 June: Cambodia v Korea DPR
• Tue 3 July: Laos v Cambodia

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.

C-League pressures

With Phnom Penh Crown getting the nod to host Group B of the AFC President's Cup Qualifying Stage between 3-13 May, then the football federation here are going to have to do some fancy footwork to re-schedule quite a few matches in the Metfone C-League. The Olympic Stadium will accommodate the AFC President's Cup games, all six of them, so potentially up to 9 C-League matches will have to be shifted away from the Olympic Stadium and moved to the Army Stadium during the quoted time-frame. That 10-day period is double what was required for last season's qualifying matches in the same competition, which were all completed over the space of five days.

Another competition which will impact on the C-League this year is the brand new AFC U-22 Asian Cup qualifiers. Cambodia have been drawn in the same group as North Korea, China, Thailand, Hong Kong and Laos and the round-robin matches are scheduled for 23 Jun-3 July, again smack bang in the middle of the second half of the C-League. Another 9 games could be impacted by players leaving their clubs to join up with the Cambodian U-22 squad, at a time when the league competition is in full flow and clubs will be loathe to release their youngsters. I can see a certain amount of friction between the domestic clubs and the FFC on the horizon. Which club, gunning for the league title (actually they'll be aiming for a top-four finish to enter the Super 4 play-off), will want to lose their best players to an U-22 international competition, and with the national team needing the players in the lead up to the qualifying games, some clubs might be without them throughout June. We've already had disruptions caused by the meaningless invitational tourney in Brunei, with a subsequent delay to the start of the C-League, and now another series of international age-level matches will have an even bigger impact on the league this term. This fixture clash is something the FFC have to look seriously at and possibly extend the season, though they will not want to do that, as it will lessen the time available for the full national team to prepare for their AFF Suzuki Cup qualifiers in October. The football calendar in Cambodia is getting fuller by the minute.