Opening defeat

Cambodia v Laos, back row, LtoR: Sovan, Laboravy, Vathanaka, Samoeun, Piseth, Yaty. Front: Pheng, Suhana, Visal, Srin, Sokumpheak (capt) - photo by Masayori Ishikawa/Khmer Goal - click to enlarge

Result: Laos 3 Cambodia 2 (AFF Suzuki Cup Qualifying).
Cambodia's Suzuki Cup adventures began with a 3-2 defeat against the hosts Laos in Vientiane, but it was a close-run game in which the visitors showed their battling qualities to drag themselves level after going two goals behind in the second-half. Five Phnom Penh Crown players started the game. The first-half was a close affair which Cambodia just shaded according to the tv pundits but neither team could break their duck and it was goal-less at the break. Both Kouch Sokumpheak and Sos Suhana went close early on, in the opening half. The home team came out at the start of the second half with real purpose, no doubt inspired by coach David Booth's half-time blast, and opened the scoring on 54 minutes when two Cambodian defenders failed to deal with a long ball and Sihavong scored with a well-placed drive. Sou Yaty in the Cambodian goal was in the thick of it, with three good saves but didn't reach a ball delivered into the corridor of uncertainty between the last defender and the keeper, and Khampheng got the merest of touches to claim Laos' second on 70 minutes. To their credit Cambodia responded just three minutes later with a cracking goal from Khuon Laboravy as he bamboozled the Laos defenders and let fly with his trusty left foot. Cambodia's tails were up and just two minutes later, substitute Sok Chanrasmey got his knee to a Laboravy center and eased the ball over the line, despite Laos claims for offside. Game on and a great recovery from the visitors, albeit relying on a long ball strategy for their offensive moves. However, their hopes were dashed just six minutes later when Khampheng took a leaf out of Wayne Rooney's book the night before, and curled a free-kick over the wall and past Yaty's despairing dive, for what turned out to be the game's clincher. Yaty had to make two more saves whilst Laboravy took a tumble in the box but the referee was having none of it. To be honest, he went down too easily. And that was that. Laos just about deserved it on the balance of play, but Cambodia showed they weren't there just to make up the numbers.

After the game, Lee Tae-Hoon, the Korean coach of Cambodia, had this to say. “We missed our chances in the first half and let our guard down early in the second, allowing those two goals which put a lot of pressure on us. It is always very hard when it comes to playing the opening game against the hosts. We have to do better in our next match. There are a lot of things we need to get right.” David Booth, the successful coach of Phnom Penh Crown in 2011, who took over the Laos team just a few weeks ago, said: "We didn’t play well in the first half and we kept giving the ball away but in the second half we were a lot stronger. Maybe the players thought we had done enough when we went two goals up and they lost their concentration and let in two quick goals. They could have easily given a third away at that point but we got the lead back and held on for the win, which was very important for our first game.” Cambodia face Timor-Leste in their next game on Thursday, who will be cock-a-hoop after their 4-2 win over Brunei in the opening game. Murilo de Almeida grabbed a hat-trick to make his mark in the tournament. Timor have six players playing abroad - two are playing in Kuwait, three in Brazil and one in Thailand - with the remainder from the local amateur league. Cambodia will have their work cut out to kickstart their Suzuki Cup hopes into life.
Cambodia NT: Yaty, Pheng, Visal, Piseth, Sovan, Samoeun, Srin (Sothearath), Sokumpheak, Suhana (Chanrasmey), Laboravy, Vathanaka. Subs: Sophea, Udom, Chhoeun, Daravorn, Soksana, Virak, Sovannrithy. Bookings: Sokumpheak, Srin. Goals: Laboravy (73), Chanrasmey (75).

Ex-PPCFC coach David Booth, now with Laos, emerged victorious

Cambodia's Lee Tae-Hoon, ponders his next move at the press conference

Suzuki squad

The Korean coach of the Cambodia national team, Lee Tae-Hoon, with his main target this year of being one of two teams to qualify from the AFF Suzuki Cup qualifying tournament in Laos between 12-20 October, has named an initial squad of thirty players to begin training this week. That squad will be whittled down to 25 and then just twenty players will make the trip to Vientiane. Reports suggest that a training camp in Korea has been shelved in favour of one in Vietnam and that the team will play some international friendlies leading up to the qualifiers. I'll believe that when I see it. Optimism was initially raised by the recent performances of the Cambodia U-21 team in an invitational tournament in Brunei, though that disappeared when the team were soundly beaten by the Vietnamese U-19s in their final match. So it's now up to Lee to raise the spirits again for the matches in October against Laos (12/10), Timor Leste (16/10), Myanmar (18/10) and Brunei (20/10). Lee's record in competitive games since he took over the national team, which was initially in August 2010 for 22 months before he returned for a second stint in August of last year, is 7 wins in 33 games, which includes three victories recently in Brunei. Draw your own conclusions from that record. Of the thirty players he's collected together this week, I'll take a stab at who I think he will choose to be his final 20, perhaps with the addition of Chhunly Pagenburg, who's playing Germany at the moment, if he can be persuaded to join the tournament. I reiterate, these are Lee's choices, not mine: Yaty, Vichet, Pancharong, Samoeun, Sovan, Sovannrithy, Boris, Pheng, Khemarin, Piseth, Sothearath, Thierry, Sokumpheak, Suhana, Phallin, Chhoeun, Udom, Laboravy, Vathanaka, Soksana.

Tough proposition

Cambodia's U-21 v Laos, back row, LtoR: Samoeun, Tola, Vichet, Srin, Daravorn, Sovan. Front: Chhoeun, Borey, Ravy, Da, Suhana - pic by DeeSler, click to enlarge

Cambodia's U-21 team returned home today after a 2-2 draw in Vientiane with their Laos counterparts, in a warm-up for their Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy matches in Brunei, which start in six days time. Nob Tola and Ros Samoeun gave Cambodia the lead in yesterday's friendly only for the hosts to pull two goals back in the last fifteen minutes. Coach Lee-Tae-Hoon has a few more days with the squad at the Tonle Bati HQ before they head for Brunei. There they begin with a tough game against the home country on 9 August, especially as local hopes are high that the Brunei side can retain the trophy they won in 2012 when they beat Indonesia 2-0 in the final. In 2012 the Cambodia team lost all four of their matches. Brunei's South Korean coach Kwon Oh-son saw his team draw 1-1 with Malaysian side Sabah at the weekend and he will include players from the DPMM side - Brunei's only professional team - that is currently leading the Singapore league, and who won the Singapore Cup last week. For his part, Lee Tae-Hoon, also from South Korea, can include four players who have just won the Cambodian championship with Phnom Penh Crown, so both coaches will have in-form players to count on. Looking at the other teams in Group B that will face Cambodia, Vietnam stand out as potential winners of the trophy. They have just returned from a two-month training camp in Japan and under French coach Guillaume Graechen, they include eleven HAGL players in what is the country's U-19 team. Vietnam are also using the competition to prepare for the AFC U-19 Championships to be held in Hanoi in September. Singapore come into the HBT having beaten Philippines 2-0 in a friendly last week and their team have been playing together in the Prime League, Singapore's reserve division, all season under experienced coach Richard Bok. Malaysia's U-21 team, known as Harimau Muda B, also compete together in the Singapore League, and will also be a real contender for the HBT title. Indonesia, a late entrant into the competition, will also send their U-19 team to compete instead of taking part in another tournament in Europe. It certainly promises to be another very tough task for Cambodia's U-21s, strengthened by the inclusion of five overage players, Kouch Sokumpheak, Sos Suhana, Chhin Chhoeun, Phourng Soksana and Sok Sovan, who carried the captain's armband in yesterday's friendly. The fixtures for Cambodia are:
9 Aug vs Brunei; 11 Aug vs Singapore; 15 Aug vs Malaysia; 16 Aug vs Indonesia; 18 Aug vs Vietnam.

The Vietnam U-19 team, one of the competition favourites

National team changes

I see Myanmar have selected a man who knows his stuff to be their national team boss for the next year and a half at least. Serbian Raddy Avramovic, who was in charge of the Singapore national team for ten years until his contract came to an end early last year, has been appointed the new chief coach of Myanmar for this year's AFC Challenge Cup and AFF Suzuki Cup campaigns and onto the 2015 SEA Games, which will be held in his old backyard of Singapore. Avramovic brought Singapore three successes in the Suzuki Cup during his tenure. Myanmar fired their South Korean head coach, Park Sung-Hwa after they failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the SEA Games, held in their home country. Another country with a new man at the helm is Philippines, who have given the task to Thomas Dooley, a former USA international with 81 caps who played a big chunk of his football in Germany. His coaching CV is a bit thin, starting in the Bundesliga's second division, before assisting with the USA team's at U-20 and senior levels.

Here in Cambodia, not one word has been uttered by the Federation or the national team coach, Lee Tae-Hoon, after they finished bottom of their SEA Games qualifying group in Myanmar in December. Not a peep. The sports media here don't bother to ask the questions and the FFC and Lee are more than happy to keep stumm after another dismal campaign. Why open up a can of worms when you can hold your tongue and merrily continue in a role in which you have been singularly unsuccessful for far too long. Lee was given the job for a second time last August, for two years. As Cambodia have failed to qualify for this year's AFC Challenge Cup in May, he won't have that to occupy his mind, but he will need to get his team in shape for the AFF Suzuki Cup qualification competition in Laos around October time. There has been no indication of friendly matches for the national team, which is par for the course, though I'm sure some fifth-rate Korean university team will be over for a friendly and there's always the C-League teams to fill in the void. I seem to be a lone voice in the wilderness when it comes to jabbering on about the national team, the apathy and indifference at every level is mind-boggling, and soul-destroying for anyone that is passionate about football in this country.

Enough is enough

Clearly enough is enough. Lee Tae-Hoon's second stint as the coach of the Cambodian national football team must come to an end now. The latest disastrous SEA Games results, bar a draw with Thailand, has taken his record in competitive games to 18 defeats in 28 games, with just 4 victories to show for his more than two years in charge. In fact Cambodia has not won a single competitive match in 17 attempts. In what we could term serious friendlies, such as the recent matches against Guam and in Singapore, the record is played 11 and won just two. But it's not just the series of defeats, it's the fact that we are no further forward than when he arrived in late 2010, and in my view, we are sinking further behind our regional neighbours. There has been zero progression at any level, there is no development program in place, there is no conveyor belt of young talent coming through, players who shine in domestic games are unable to reproduce that form at national team level, and tactically we are naive and negative when we meet other countries. There is a pressing need to overhaul the way we manage our national team set-up and clearly Lee Tae-Hoon is not the man to do it.

Competition Results:
22 Oct 2010 v Laos (AFF Suzuki Cup) Away. Drew 0-0
24 Oct 2010 v Timor Leste (AFF Suzuki Cup) Away. Won 4-2 Borey 3, Sinoun
26 Oct 2010 v Philippines (AFF Suzuki Cup) Away. Drew 0-0
9 Feb 2011 v Macau (AFC Challenge Cup Qual) Home. Won 3-1 El Nasa 2, Laboravy
16 Feb 2011 v Macau (AFC Challenge Cup Qual) Away. Lost 2-3 Borey, El Nasa
21 Mar 2011 v Maldives (AFC Challenge Cup) Away. Lost 0-4
23 Mar 2011 v Tajikistan (AFC Challenge Cup) Away. Lost 0-3
25 Mar 2011 v Kyrgyzstan (AFC Challenge Cup) Away. Lost 3-4 Sokumpheak, Rithy
29 Jun 2011 v Laos (World Cup Qual) Home. Won 4-2 Laboravy, El Nasa 2, Sokumpheak
3 Jul 2011 v Laos (World Cup Qual) Away. Lost 2-6 aet Chhoeun, Sokumpheak
9 Oct 2011 v Laos (Mekong BIDC Cup) Home. Won 2-0 Soksana, Laboravy
12 Oct 2011 v Myanmar (Mekong BIDC Cup) Home. Drew 2-2 Udom pen, Saray
14 Oct 2011 v Thailand (Mekong BIDC Cup) Home. Lost 1-2 Sovan
7 Nov 2011 v Indonesia (SEA Games) Away. Lost 0-6
9 Nov 2011 v Singapore (SEA Games) Away. Lost 1-2 Chhoeun
11 Nov 2011 v Thailand (SEA Games) Away. Lost 0-4
13 Nov 2011 v Malaysia (SEA Games) Away. Lost 1-4 Chhoeun
25 Feb 2012 v Brunei (Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy) Away. Lost 2-3 Udom pen, Vathanaka
27 Feb 2012 v Vietnam (HBT) Away. Lost 1-2 Vathanak
29 Feb 2012 v Timor Leste (HBT) Away. Lost 0-1
5 Mar 2012 v Malaysia (HBT) Away. Lost 1-3 Sothearath
2 Nov 2013 v Malaysia (BIDC Cup) Home. Drew 2-2 Sokngon, Vathanaka
6 Nov 2013 v Laos (BIDC Cup) Home. Drew 2-2 Sokngon, Chhoeun
8 Nov 2013 v Thailand (BIDC Cup) Home. Lost 1-2 aet Samoeun
7 Dec 2013 v Myanmar (SEA Games) Away. Lost 0-3
 9 Dec 2013 v Indonesia (SEA Games) Away. Lost 0-1
12 Dec 2013 v Timor Leste (SEA Games) Away. Lost 2-3 Suhana, PM Udom
16 Dec 2013 v Thailand (SEA Games) Away. Drew 0-0. 
Record: Pld 28 Won 4 Drew 6 Lost 18 Goals For 36 Agst 67

Thin layer of gloss

The SEA Games football competition ended for Cambodia U-23s tonight with a 0-0 draw with Thailand. Normally that would be a cause for celebration, as traditionally we always lose to our neighbours. And the players deserve credit for holding the Thais at bay for ninety minutes. But we have to look beyond the bare bones of the scoreline. The Thais rested players for this game as they were already through. Sou Yaty, captaining Cambodia once again, was the difference between the two teams and pulled off half a dozen excellent saves to keep his team in the match, five of them in the second half. Cambodia had three chances in the game. Phourng Soksana had two of them, both snuffed out by the opposing keeper and Chhin Chhoeun fired the other one across the face of the goal. To be frank, Cambodia never looked likely to score, they simply don't possess a finisher in the whole squad. Chan Vathanaka got a rare start in this game but was more focused on kicking the opposition and conceding dangerous free-kicks, which is something the whole team was prone to do, than being the offensive threat he is in the C-League. His effectiveness was blunted. The back-four is a serious problem area. They kept the opposition out tonight, but more by luck than judgement. Ros Samoeun cannot defend and why he was converted into a full-back is beyond me. Another weird and wonderful decision from head coach Lee Tae-Hoon. The single point that Cambodia will take back from the SEA Games, after three successive defeats to Myanmar, Indonesia and Timor Leste, may be seen by some as a positive, but it's not. It's a thin layer of gloss over what has been another unsuccessful adventure overseas under Lee's tutelage. We have now endured such misery all too often over the past couple of years of Lee's control and it's time to call a halt. In fact, that time is way overdue. The Phnom Penh Post hinted at other less attractive misadventures on their sports pages today and anyone with an ounce of gray matter will take one look at Lee's record and realise it's time to call it a day. We need a stronger, driven, football expert to shake up Cambodian football from top to bottom, effectively starting again from scratch, or else we will continue to limp from one disaster to the next, showing no signs of progression whatsoever, as our national team slips further behind every other country in the region. This is the bleak outlook we face unless we take action now to stop the rot.
I was criticised by one of Lee's assistants this evening on facebook, less than an hour after the game, who claimed I didn't support the Cambodia team, but he is so far from the truth. I am the nation's biggest fan (as much as a foreigner can be) but I will not sit idly by and keep quiet, while I see that so much needs to be changed before we will improve. Whether that's the national team and its coach, the domestic C-League and its organisation, cup competitions, match officials, grassroots development and so on. Football is my passion, it always has been and always will be and if I see something that I believe is wrong or needs changing in my opinion, then that is fair game.

As expected

There are no surprises in the Cambodia U-23 national squad announced ahead of the team leaving tomorrow for the SEA Games in Myanmar. South Korean coach Lee Tae-Hoon has effectively picked the players he selected in the recent BIDC Cup competition and various friendlies against Guam and Singapore.
The 20-man SEA Games squad is:
Phnom Penh Crown: Sou Yaty, Sos Suhana, Bin Thierry.
National Police: Say Piseth, Srey Oudom.
Army: Chhin Chhoeun, Phoung Soksana, Khek Khemrin, Ke Vannak.
Svay Rieng: Sar Sophea, Prak Mony Udom, Tum Saray.
Boeung Ket: Chan Vathanaka, Keo Sokngon, Sok Pheng, Touch Pancharong, Chhun Sothearath, Sok Sovan, Ros Samoeun.
NagaCorp: Sok Rithy.

Missing out on a trip to the SEA Games from the squad that has been training at Tonle Bati for the past two months are Samrith Seiha, Aim Sovannarath, Nen Sothearoth, Khiev Vibol and Ung Dara.
Cambodia will begin their tough series of SEA Games matches on Saturday 7 December against the host nation.
The SEA Games matches for Cambodia:
7 Dec: Myanmar v Cambodia - 6.45pm
9 Dec: Cambodia v Indonesia - 4pm
12 Dec: Cambodia v Timor Leste - 6.45pm
16 Dec: Thailand v Cambodia - 6.45pm. 

Time for change

As we approach the SEA Games in Myanmar in just over a couple of weeks time, I want everyone to be very clear about Cambodia's record under the current head coach, Lee Tae-Hoon. In competitive football matches under his command, Cambodia has played 24 games and won just 4.  In what we could term serious friendlies, such as the recent matches against Guam and in Singapore, the record is played 11 and won just two. In Myanmar, we are in the toughest group and will come face to face with Thailand, Indonesia, the hosts Myanmar and Timor-Leste. None of those games will bring any respite from the numerous reversals we have suffered. Of course, the position of coach of the Cambodian football team is not an easy one. Some might say it's a thankless task. I disagree. You get the right man for the job and as we have seen in other countries, take Guam as an obvious example, miracles are indeed possible. So it doesn't take a genius to work out my despair when Lee returned to coach the national team in August. His abysmal record and frankly his negative tactics are in my opinion, not moving Cambodian football forward in any way, shape or form. It's time for everyone to wake up and smell the coffee. In the best interests of Cambodian football, we need to make a change now.
This is Lee Tae-Hoon's record whilst in charge of the Cambodia national team:
Competition Results:
22 Oct 2010 v Laos (AFF Suzuki Cup) Away. Drew 0-0
24 Oct 2010 v Timor Leste (AFF Suzuki Cup) Away. Won 4-2 Borey 3, Sinoun
26 Oct 2010 v Philippines (AFF Suzuki Cup) Away. Drew 0-0
9 Feb 2011 v Macau (AFC Challenge Cup Qual) Home. Won 3-1 El Nasa 2, Laboravy
16 Feb 2011 v Macau (AFC Challenge Cup Qual) Away. Lost 2-3 Borey, El Nasa
21 Mar 2011 v Maldives (AFC Challenge Cup) Away. Lost 0-4
23 Mar 2011 v Tajikistan (AFC Challenge Cup) Away. Lost 0-3
25 Mar 2011 v Kyrgyzstan (AFC Challenge Cup) Away. Lost 3-4 Sokumpheak, Rithy
29 Jun 2011 v Laos (World Cup Qual) Home. Won 4-2 Laboravy, El Nasa 2, Sokumpheak
3 Jul 2011 v Laos (World Cup Qual) Away. Lost 2-6 aet Chhoeun, Sokumpheak
9 Oct 2011 v Laos (Mekong BIDC Cup) Home. Won 2-0 Soksana, Laboravy
12 Oct 2011 v Myanmar (Mekong BIDC Cup) Home. Drew 2-2 Udom pen, Saray
14 Oct 2011 v Thailand (Mekong BIDC Cup) Home. Lost 1-2 Sovan
7 Nov 2011 v Indonesia (SEA Games) Away. Lost 0-6
9 Nov 2011 v Singapore (SEA Games) Away. Lost 1-2 Chhoeun
11 Nov 2011 v Thailand (SEA Games) Away. Lost 0-4
13 Nov 2011 v Malaysia (SEA Games) Away. Lost 1-4 Chhoeun
25 Feb 2012 v Brunei (Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy) Away. Lost 2-3 Udom pen, Vathanaka
27 Feb 2012 v Vietnam (HBT) Away. Lost 1-2 Vathanak
29 Feb 2012 v Timor Leste (HBT) Away. Lost 0-1
5 Mar 2012 v Malaysia (HBT) Away. Lost 1-3 Sothearath
2 Nov 2013 v Malaysia (BIDC Cup) Home. Drew 2-2 Sokngon, Vathanaka
6 Nov 2013 v Laos (BIDC Cup) Home. Drew 2-2 Sokngon, Chhoeun
8 Nov 2013 v Thailand (BIDC Cup) Home. Lost 1-2 aet Samoeun
Record: Pld 24 Won 4 Drew 5 Lost 15 Goals For 34 Agst 60


Friendlies:
18 Sep 2010 v Vietnam U-23 Away. Lost 0-2
21 Sep 2010 v Vietnam U-23 Away. Lost 0-3
5 Dec 2010 v Ulsan University Home. Lost 1-4 own goal
7 Jun 2011 v Malaysia Olympic XI Home. Won 1-0 Laboravy
28 Oct 2011 v Nepal U-23 Home. Lost 0-1
14 Jan 2012 v Malaysia U-23 Home. Lost 0-1
27 Jan 2012 v Ulsan University Home. Drew 3-3 Vathanaka, Chhoeun, S Udom
29 Jan 2012 v Ulsan University Home. Lost 1-2 Vathanaka
19 Nov 2013 v Guam Home. Lost 0-2
22 Nov 2013 v Singapore U-23 Away. Won 1-0 Vathanaka
24 Nov 2013 v Singapore U-23 Away. Lost 0-1.

Record: Pld 11 Won 2 Drew 1 Lost 8 Goals For 7 Agst 19

Praying for a miracle

The country's football fans, starved of national team action for much of the year, can get their teeth into the MRYUIFTBIDCCup2013 from this coming weekend. That mouthful is the Mekong Region Youth U23 International Football Tournament BIDC Cup 2013 to you and me. Six countries have made it, despite it being billed a few months ago as an eight-country competition including two teams from China. That didn't happen. Instead, six teams are expected though its already been made clear that only one or two of them will be bringing their SEA Games squads to Phnom Penh. Cambodia will. We'll have to wait and see who else turns up. The games start on Saturday (2 November), 2pm at the Olympic Stadium with Cambodia's U-23s meeting Malaysia at 4pm in Group B. On 6 November, again at 4pm, Laos will be Cambodia's opponents. The top two countries of each group will progress to the semi-finals on 8 November and the final will be at 4pm on Sunday 10 November. The countries in Group A are Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar. With the football public on a life-support machine as far as the national team are concerned - Cambodia lie in 198th position in the FIFA rankings, despite not having played for ever it seems - the matches are sure to get the supporters juices flowing, though with the U-23s build-up under the leadership of Lee Tae-Hoon on his return to steer the ship, not exactly uprooting any trees, they lost twice to Phnom Penh Crown in friendlies for example, the fans will be relying on hope (and the odd miracle) rather than expectation. Everyone will be keeping their fingers and toes crossed that players like Chan Vathanaka, Chhin Chhoeun and Bin Thierry play out of their skins and deliver the goods. Home advantage could count for something, especially if the supporters turn out in force, and with the team containing a number of players who've appeared in previous SEA Games competitions, so at least have the experience that few of their opponents can match, maybe a miracle might just happen. But don't bet your house on it. I hear the team have another game lined up, against visiting Guam, on 19 November, as the countdown moves into its final stages before the squad heads off to Myanmar for the SEA Games, and an even sterner test of their credentials.

My way or the highway

The Cambodia U-23s receiving pre-match instructions

Anyone who has read Kingdom of Football before will likely be aware of my dissent with the current occupant of the hottest seat in Khmer football, the Cambodian national football team. I don't think he's the right man for the job. Plain and simple. But I seem to be a lone voice in the football wilderness on that one. He's currently responsible for the U-23 squad who are preparing for the BIDC Cup competition, in Phnom Penh early next month, and more importantly, the SEA Games in December over in Myanmar. The squad have been together, training twice each day, for a month and a half and will be in training camp lock-down at the Tonle Bati center from Monday. That has meant that each of those 25 players has not been available to their domestic clubs for that period of time and will not be released back to their clubs until after the SEA Games is over. So for the whole of the pre-season preparation, build-up and practice matches, clubs have had to manage without their best players. If they are lucky, they may get them back for a few days before the Hun Sen Cup competition begins on 17 December. Those are the facts. To me that stinks. How the heck can clubs prepare their teams properly, both tactically, mentally and physically, if their best players are absent for what will be more than three months? It's simply not possible. For purely selfish reasons the federation and the national coach decided they had complete control over the players, ignoring the fact that they are on contracts with their domestic teams. I don't believe there was any attempt to find a reasonable compromise, for example say two days a week with their own clubs, the rest of the time with the national set-up. It was their way or the highway, so to speak. Of course, everyone wants the national team to succeed but not at the expense of teams in the domestic competitions. It should be a partnership, not a them or us situation. Another area of the game where massive improvements need to be made.
The 25-man U-23 squad currently squirreled away is:
Phnom Penh Crown: Sou Yaty, Sos Suhana, Bin Thierry.
National Police: Say Piseth, Srey Oudom.
Army: Sou Yaty, Chhin Chhoeun, Phoung Soksana, Khek Khemarin, Ke Vannak, Ung Dara.
Svay Rieng: Aim Sovannarath, Sar Sophea, Prak Mony Udom, Tum Saray, Nen Sothearoth.
Boeung Ket: Chan Vathanaka, Keo Sokngon, Sok Pheng, Touch Pancharong, Khiev Vibol, Chhun Sothearath, Sok Sovan, Ros Samoeun.
Naga: Samrith Seiha, Sok Rithy.

Twenty-six for the U-23s

Lee Tae-Hoon is back as the head coach of the Cambodia national team. I have made my feelings perfectly clear how I view his re-appointment to the job, so I won't re-hash that particular bugbear. However, its worth taking a look at the first squad he's picked since his return to the post, which was made public today. It's an Under-23 squad rather than a full senior team, as we have U-23 competitions coming up in the BIDC Mekong Cup, at home, in November followed by the SEA Games in Myanmar in December. And looking at the squad, it's like Lee has never been away. He has picked a bunch of his favourite players such as Tum Saray, Touch Pancharong, Phoung Soksana and Srey Oudom, who readily spring to mind as past selections of the South Korean coach. Boeung Ket provide eight players in the 26-man squad that will assemble at the Tonle Bati national training center on 2 September. Champions Svay Rieng have six players called-up and the Army have six as well, despite the military team finishing one place above automatic relegation. There are some new faces, such as Kirivong's Nhem Sovannara, Boeung Ket's Keo Sokpheng and Ros Samoeun, Aim Sovannarath, the Svay Rieng goalkeeper who picked up the keeper of the year award and Phnom Penh Crown's Khmer-French import Bin Thierry. There are also some names who've been around the local football scene for what seems like many years and yet surprisingly, they still make selection for the U-23s. The ageless Peter Pans of Cambodian football I would suggest. Lee Tae-Hoon has also called on his former backroom team of Meas Channa, Ieng Saknida and Oum Savong to assist him.
Here's the 26-man squad:
Phnom Penh Crown: Samrith Seiha, Sos Suahana, Bin Thierry.
National Police: Say Piseth, Srey Oudom.
Kirivong: Nhem Sovannara.
Army: Sou Yaty, Chhin Chhoeun, Phoung Soksana, Khek Khemarin, Ke Vannak, Ung Dara.
Svay Rieng: Aim Sovannarath, Sar Sophea, Sok Rithy, Prak Mony Udom, Tum Saray, Nen Sothearoth.
Boeung Ket: Chan Vatanaka, Keo Sokngon, Keo Sokpheng, Touch Pancharong, Khiev Vibol, Chhun Sothearath, Sok Sovan, Ros Samoeun. 

Disaster waiting to happen

Cambodia's football authorities are setting the national football team up for another big fall. Their next serious international competition is the SEA Games in December, which will be held in Myanmar. That's five months away. Cambodia have yet to publicly announce the return of Lee Tae-Hoon as the national team coach, though its been reported in the local media, so presumably the first task he will undertake is to put together a squad to compete in the SEA Games. That's an under-23 competition. And that's where the decision-makers at the federation have lost valuable time compared with their southeast asian neighbours, who've stolen a march by having their teams picked and in training for the past few months. As far as I can tell, only Cambodia have yet to get off their butts and organise their SEA Games football team. Take the minnows of Brunei for example. They've had their squad picked and in training every day since April. They have a friendly coming up against Indonesia, runner's up in the last competition, very soon and Indonesia have been in training since May and playing games. Vietnam have been indulging in friendlies against opposition from Japan and France, whilst Myanmar are training with the South Korean team and will play Hong Kong next month. Malaysia are taking it so seriously that they've been over in Eastern Europe for seven months playing a series of friendly matches against club sides. Pre-Games favourties Thailand have appointed Zico as their coach and mean business, playing most of their squad in this week's friendly against visiting Liverpool, as do Singapore, who recently beat Indonesia in a friendly as part of their build-up. In fact every country has got their act together, except Cambodia. The lack of preparation is telling and even though the Mekong BIDC Cup competition will be held in Phnom Penh in November, that's too little too late, in terms of gelling together a squad capable of competing against any of their SEA neighbours. In reality, its a disaster waiting to happen as the football authorities once again fail miserably to plan ahead and make decisions that are beneficial to the nation's footballing reputation. November 2011 was the last SEA Games debacle for Cambodia, which brought four defeats in as many games under the stewardship of Lee Tae-Hoon, in his previous stint in charge, and I see a very similar story playing out this time around.

Lee Tae-Hoon gets 2 years

Lee Tae-Hoon, back in charge for another 2 years

Okay, back to one of my favourite hobbyhorses, the national coach position of the Cambodian football team. Sabay tells us today that Lee Tae-Hoon has been appointed as the national coach for the next two years, beginning in August. The FFC have reverted back to a man who was singularly unsuccessful in his first spell in charge of the national team - just 4 wins out of 21 competitive matches during a 22-month period - and who has been twiddling his thumbs whilst his successors, Hok Sochetra and Prak Sovannara, who has been unceremoniously jettisoned for a second time, both failed to ignite the football loving country or its team. Seemingly devoid of other options - though I know for a fact that the FFC have been contacted by a stream of experienced coaches already working in Asia - the country's decision-makers have welcomed back Lee Tae-Hoon with open arms to have another crack at moving the national team's fortunes forward.

So what can we expect from the South Korean tactician? For starters, his concentration will be on players eligible for the SEA Games that begin on 1 December in Myanmar. So that means the Under-23 age group, as the SEA Games is not a senior international competition. He has the Mekong BIDC Cup, which will be held in Phnom Penh for eight teams, before that in November, so presumably he will be looking to bed-in his U-23 team in that tournament. As Cambodia have failed to qualify for the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup, he won't have to worry his head about that next year, but will have to face up to the AFF Suzuki Cup later in 2014. Luckily for him, there is no qualification for this competition, which will be held in Vietnam and Singapore around October time. Cambodia don't enter the AFC Asian Cup and the draw for the next FIFA World Cup isn't until July 2015, so he doesn't have that to concern him, especially as he's professed his complete indifference to that competition in the past. With the FFC's reluctance over the past few years to pepper the football calendar with international friendlies, aside from meaningless games with Ulsan University and the like, don't expect Lee Tae-Hoon to uproot any trees with his dogged approach. He will put his emphasis on fitness rather than any tactical expertise, if his first spell in charge is anything to go by. He claims he has some fresh ideas according to a recent interview, so we can await what those are with bated breath. For the sake of the country's international reputation - which is at an all-time low with a FIFA world ranking of 198 - his second spell in charge needs to generate a buzz about it and he can start with success in the BIDC Cup in November, on home soil. Now that would be a coup to prove his doubters wrong, of which this writer is one of many.

The unthinkable becomes reality

"Did I hear what rumour? Its not a rumour my boy, it's a reality."

The Phnom Penh Post today broke the rumour that Lee Tae-Hoon will soon return as the coach of the Cambodia national team. This just about takes the biscuit. Lee Tae-Hoon's previous 22-month stint in charge was a disaster. Since he's been away - he left in the middle of 2012 - he's been coaching with some youth teams in his native South Korea and yet he tells PPP that: "I know most of the players and I have been watching them. I have some fresh ideas and let's see." Presumably those fresh ideas will include throwing his former coaching manual out into the dustbin and starting with a blank sheet of paper.

Let me repeat a post I made at the time of his departure, in June 2012.
As football is a results-driven sport, let's take a look at Lee Tae-Hoon's twenty-two months in charge of the Cambodian team, following his arrival in August 2010, through the results his teams achieved. In competitive football, his selections played 21 matches, winning four times, drawing three and losing 14 games. They scored 29 goals and conceded 54. The competitions included the AFF Suzuki Cup, AFC Challenge Cup, FIFA World Cup, Mekong BIDC Cup, SEA Games and the Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy. His teams also played what could be classed as serious friendly matches. In these, his record was played 8, won 1, drawn 1 and lost six, scoring 6 goals and conceding 16. I haven't included the results of  another 15+ matches which his teams played against Metfone C-League clubs as warm-up games. Obviously, results don't tell the whole story, and I have covered in depth in many previous posts about my thoughts on his selections, his tactics and his results. I won't go over old ground again. Suffice to say I wasn't his greatest fan and really felt that he lost the plot when he gave such scant importance to our World Cup qualifying ambitions in 2011. That was simply inexcusable. Here are the results in black and white:

Competition Results:
22 Oct 2010 v Laos (AFF Suzuki Cup) Away. Drew 0-0
24 Oct 2010 v Timor Leste (AFF Suzuki Cup) Away. Won 4-2 Borey 3, Sinoun
26 Oct 2010 v Philippines (AFF Suzuki Cup) Away. Drew 0-0
9 Feb 2011 v Macau (AFC Challenge Cup Qual) Home. Won 3-1 El Nasa 2, Laboravy
16 Feb 2011 v Macau (AFC Challenge Cup Qual) Away. Lost 2-3 Borey, El Nasa
21 Mar 2011 v Maldives (AFC Challenge Cup) Away. Lost 0-4
23 Mar 2011 v Tajikistan (AFC Challenge Cup) Away. Lost 0-3
25 Mar 2011 v Kyrgyzstan (AFC Challenge Cup) Away. Lost 3-4 Sokumpheak, Rithy
29 Jun 2011 v Laos (World Cup Qual) Home. Won 4-2 Laboravy, El Nasa 2, Sokumpheak
3 Jul 2011 v Laos (World Cup Qual) Away. Lost 2-6 aet Chhoeun, Sokumpheak
9 Oct 2011 v Laos (Mekong BIDC Cup) Home. Won 2-0 Soksana, Laboravy
12 Oct 2011 v Myanmar (Mekong BIDC Cup) Home. Drew 2-2 Udom pen, Saray
14 Oct 2011 v Thailand (Mekong BIDC Cup) Home. Lost 1-2 Sovan
7 Nov 2011 v Indonesia (SEA Games) Away. Lost 0-6
9 Nov 2011 v Singapore (SEA Games) Away. Lost 1-2 Chhoeun
11 Nov 2011 v Thailand (SEA Games) Away. Lost 0-4
13 Nov 2011 v Malaysia (SEA Games) Away. Lost 1-4 Chhoeun
25 Feb 2012 v Brunei (Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy) Away. Lost 2-3 Udom pen, Vathanaka
27 Feb 2012 v Vietnam (HBT) Away. Lost 1-2 Vathanaka
29 Feb 2012 v Timor Leste (HBT) Away. Lost 0-1
5 Mar 2012 v Malaysia (HBT) Away. Lost 1-3 Sothearath
Record: Pld 21 Won 4 Drew 3 Lost 14 Goals For 29 Agst 54

Friendlies:
18 Sep 2010 v Vietnam U-23 Away. Lost 0-2
21 Sep 2010 v Vietnam U-23 Away. Lost 0-3
5 Dec 2010 v Ulsan University Home. Lost 1-4 own goal
7 Jun 2011 v Malaysia Olympic XI Home. Won 1-0 Laboravy
28 Oct 2011 v Nepal U-23 Home. Lost 0-1
14 Jan 2012 v Malaysia U-23 Home. Lost 0-1
27 Jan 2012 v Ulsan University Home. Drew 3-3 Vathanaka, Chhoeun, S Udom
29 Jan 2012 v Ulsan University Home. Lost 1-2 Vathanaka

Record: Pld 8 Won 1 Drew 1 Lost 6 Goals For 6 Agst 16

Obviously, I have a lot more I want to say on the subject, including commenting on a wave of support for the coach from some of the football community on Facebook. I'm sorry to say that some people view any foreign coach, even an unsuccessful one, as better than the current coach Prak Sovannara or any Khmer for that matter. The fact that he's South Korean may even sway their judgement further, especially with the current Khmer penchant for all-things Korean. I do agree that a foreign coach is best suited to shake-up the current lethargy of Cambodian football on the international scene, but not one that has a proven track record of failure. Anyway, the PPP have broken the story so we'll have to wait to hear from the Federation themselves. Fat chance of that.

Sochetra's future

Cambodia's coach Hok Sochetra faces the press (www.affsuzukicup.com)

Hok Sochetra's first serious competition as the head coach of the Cambodian national team was pretty much a disaster. Four games, four defeats with two of those against teams ranked well below Cambodia in the FIFA world rankings. For many of the Kingdom's online football fans it was too much to bear. Calls for the coach to resign, who is just three months into the job, were loud and vociferous. But it is highly unlikely he's going anywhere soon. He spoke to the press after losing the final match, 3-0 to hosts Myanmar. “This is the first job for me leading the national team and many of my players are also very young so I think that we gained a lot of experience from competing here. Maybe with a better schedule, we might have done better in this competition but we had only two weeks to prepare together in Kuala Lumpur after our domestic league season ended and even then, not all of our players were there because three of them were with Phnom Penh Crown at the AFC President's Cup and they didn’t join us until three days before our opening game in Yangon. I think that we worked very hard but it was a very tight schedule for us. Unfortunately when we were training in Malaysia, I did not consider the problem that the timing of our first game was in the middle of the afternoon so our training sessions were mostly in the evening. That was a big mistake by me. I thought that we played well in the first half [against Myanmar] and managed to keep the game scoreless. But they pushed hard in the second half and we made mistakes. But we had not much time for recovery for the last game so it was difficult for us. Myanmar were well rested and they are a very good team.”
Sochetra is the football federation's man. It was he they turned too after Lee Tae-Hoon's twenty-one months in charge of the national team fizzled out when his contract was not renewed. Lee's record of 21 international matches, winning four times, drawing three and losing 14 games wasn't exactly a hard act to follow. The appointment of the country's leading goalscorer of all time (he netted 42 goals in 64 appearances) invigorated some, whilst others were seeking someone with a proven track record. Sochetra had some success as a player-coach at Samart United in the early part of the last decade, but that's been about it until he gained credibility in the federation's eyes by passing the AFC A-licence coaching course in February. Without much time to stamp his authority and style on his squad, Sochetra must've known Suzuki Cup qualification would be a tough ask, though I don't think he quite appreciated just how far Cambodia had fallen behind their nearest rivals. They were outclassed by Timor Leste and Myanmar, whilst the results against Laos and Brunei were closer on paper but Cambodia never looked capable of winning any of the matches. It certainly is a case of back to the drawing board for Sochetra and Cambodian football after this wake-up call. I would like to hear Sochetra's long-term strategy, and the federation's for that matter, on how he intends to improve the national team's fast-disappearing international credibility, but with an inept sports press in the capital, that's highly unlikely.
So what's next for Sochetra and the national team. Well, the first challenge is about five months away. The AFC Challenge Cup, 2014 edition, will have its draw later this month to decide who Cambodia will be playing. Pre-qualifying, home and away, is likely for Cambodia early next year, before the actual qualifying group stages a month later, if they get through. There's the next SEA Games, which will be held in Myanmar in December of next year, though that is for Under-23 teams rather than senior national teams. The next AFF Suzuki Cup qualifiers are two years away. And of course, World Cup qualification is far in the distance, most likely sometime in 2015. With the federation's past record of failing to secure international friendlies, we're unlikely to see the national team playing again, anytime soon. So that gives the head coach and the federation a lot of thinking and planning time. Whether they put it to good use, remains to be seen. 

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.

The bare facts

Soon to depart, Lee Tae-Hoon

The departure of Lee Tae-Hoon as the head coach of the Cambodian national football is pending, though I'm not sure why he hasn't left already as the senior team have not had a match since their World Cup debacle in Laos in July of last year, and he was overlooked as the coach of the U-22 team that open their AFC Asian Cup account later today. As football is a results-driven sport, let's take a look at Lee Tae-Hoon's twenty-one months in charge of the Cambodian team, following his arrival in August 2010, through the results his teams achieved. In competitive football, his selections played 21 matches, winning four times, drawing three and losing 14 games. They scored 29 goals and conceded 54. The competitions included the AFF Suzuki Cup, AFC Challenge Cup, FIFA World Cup, Mekong BIDC Cup, SEA Games and the Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy. His teams also played what could be classed as serious friendly matches. In these, his record was played 8, won 1, drawn 1 and lost six, scoring 6 goals and conceding 16. I haven't included the results of  another 15+ matches which his teams played against Metfone C-League clubs as warm-up games. Obviously, results don't tell the whole story, and I have covered in depth in many previous posts about my thoughts on his selections, his tactics and his results. I won't go over old ground again. Suffice to say I wasn't his greatest fan and really felt that he lost the plot when he gave such scant importance to our World Cup qualifying ambitions last year. That was simply inexcusable. Here are the results in black and white:

Competition Results:
22 Oct 2010 v Laos (AFF Suzuki Cup) Away. Drew 0-0
24 Oct 2010 v Timor Leste (AFF Suzuki Cup) Away. Won 4-2 Borey 3, Sinoun
26 Oct 2010 v Philippines (AFF Suzuki Cup) Away. Drew 0-0
9 Feb 2011 v Macau (AFC Challenge Cup Qual) Home. Won 3-1 El Nasa 2, Laboravy
16 Feb 2011 v Macau (AFC Challenge Cup Qual) Away. Lost 2-3 Borey, El Nasa
21 Mar 2011 v Maldives (AFC Challenge Cup) Away. Lost 0-4
23 Mar 2011 v Tajikistan (AFC Challenge Cup) Away. Lost 0-3
25 Mar 2011 v Kyrgyzstan (AFC Challenge Cup) Away. Lost 3-4 Sokumpheak, Rithy
29 Jun 2011 v Laos (World Cup Qual) Home. Won 4-2 Laboravy, El Nasa 2, Sokumpheak
3 Jul 2011 v Laos (World Cup Qual) Away. Lost 2-6 aet Chhoeun, Sokumpheak
9 Oct 2011 v Laos (Mekong BIDC Cup) Home. Won 2-0 Soksana, Laboravy
12 Oct 2011 v Myanmar (Mekong BIDC Cup) Home. Drew 2-2 Udom pen, Saray
14 Oct 2011 v Thailand (Mekong BIDC Cup) Home. Lost 1-2 Sovan
7 Nov 2011 v Indonesia (SEA Games) Away. Lost 0-6
9 Nov 2011 v Singapore (SEA Games) Away. Lost 1-2 Chhoeun
11 Nov 2011 v Thailand (SEA Games) Away. Lost 0-4
13 Nov 2011 v Malaysia (SEA Games) Away. Lost 1-4 Chhoeun
25 Feb 2012 v Brunei (Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy) Away. Lost 2-3 Udom pen, Vathanaka
27 Feb 2012 v Vietnam (HBT) Away. Lost 1-2 Vathanak
29 Feb 2012 v Timor Leste (HBT) Away. Lost 0-1
5 Mar 2012 v Malaysia (HBT) Away. Lost 1-3 Sothearath
Record: Pld 21 Won 4 Drew 3 Lost 14 Goals For 29 Agst 54


Friendlies:
18 Sep 2010 v Vietnam U-23 Away. Lost 0-2
21 Sep 2010 v Vietnam U-23 Away. Lost 0-3
5 Dec 2010 v Ulsan University Home. Lost 1-4 own goal
7 Jun 2011 v Malaysia Olympic XI Home. Won 1-0 Laboravy
28 Oct 2011 v Nepal U-23 Home. Lost 0-1
14 Jan 2012 v Malaysia U-23 Home. Lost 0-1
27 Jan 2012 v Ulsan University Home. Drew 3-3 Vathanaka, Chhoeun, S Udom
29 Jan 2012 v Ulsan University Home. Lost 1-2 Vathanaka

Record: Pld 8 Won 1 Drew 1 Lost 6 Goals For 6 Agst 16

Swell of support

I sense a swell of support amongst some of the footballing public here to give the soon-to-be-vacant Cambodian national team coaching job to a Khmer football hero of the past, Pen Phath. With South Korean Lee Tae-Hoon expected to vacate the hot-seat next month, Pen Phath's name has come into the frame, to coincide with a statement by the football federation that they are seeking a homegrown local to take charge of the national squad for the important AFF Suzuki Cup qualifiers in October. A federation spokesman suggested that now Cambodia has ten recently qualified AFC A-Licence coaches, then homegrown is the way to go. Personally, I feel that's a retrograde step at this time, when national morale is already at its lowest ebb for many years. My choice would be to appoint a suitably experienced foreign coach, with a thorough understanding of international football in this region, together with the best local coach for the two of them to work in tandem alongside each other, with a view to the local coach taking over in 12-15 months time. Only one local coach has any real bone fide international experience and that's Naga's Prak Sovannara, who had a previous stint in charge. None of the others, especially the recently qualified coaches, have the nous and know-how to operate at the level required, and that includes Pen Phath. A national team regular for a decade in the late 1960s, he later played in Thailand before moving to France where he played and coached at district level. He's also been involved in guiding the French-Khmer Select team that travelled to Phnom Penh in late 2010 and are returning for more games in August. However, that experience certainly doesn't pave the way to become the Cambodian national coach, anymore than one of the new A-qualified coaches, who have zero coaching experience at international level. Anything less than sticking with a tried and tested foreign coach will be courting further disasters to rival the twenty-one months of the Lee Tae-Hoon reign. I can of course sympathise with the desire to see a Khmer coach in charge of the national team but we have to face facts, and think with our head not our heart, as they aren't ready yet. It's simply too tough a task for any one of them to take on.

Services no longer required

Lee Tae-Hoon - his services will not be required any longer

I've just heard some news, late in the day, which has brought some relief from a very trying period in Cambodian football that pretty much everyone will want to forget. I'm referring to the reign of the Cambodian national football coach, Lee Tae-Hoon, over the past twenty-one months since his appointment in August 2010. I understand the head coach's contract will not be renewed when it comes to an end next month. This was a contract extension granted by the federation a year ago, though it's believed the bulk of the salary was donated by the South Korean FA. From the beginning, his stint in charge went pretty much nowhere. Aside from a home win over Laos in the World Cup, results from the games under his supervision in the big competitions such as the AFF Suzuki Cup, the AFC Challenge Cup, the FIFA World Cup and the SEA Games were an unmitigated disaster and left Cambodia lagging well behind their international team peers. There were no redeeming features of his time in charge that spring readily to mind - though his loyalty from the players never diminished - and in a results-driven business like football, the writing was on the wall over a year ago, and before he signed that contract extension. Why it has taken this long for the football federation to act is beyond my reasoning. Only they can answer the charges that should be levelled against them by every Cambodian football fan. Now we must await the deliberations of those same football authorities to see who will lead Cambodia at the AFF Suzuki Cup qualifiers, to be held in Myanmar between 5-13 October. The word is that they will seek a local coach to take charge. The fate of the nation's football future rests in their hands. It doesn't bear thinking about.

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