Familiar faces

Keo Sokngorn nailing his colours to the mast of his new Thai club side

A few familiar faces were spotted at the Hun Sen Cup matches at Olympic Stadium yesterday including teenage national team striker Keo Sokngorn, who came along to watch his former club Phnom Penh Crown sail through to the next round. Sokngorn netted 15 goals for Crown last season before deciding to try his luck in pastures new for the coming season, recently signing for Thai Regional Division 2 team Samut Sakhon FC. He met up with the Cambodian national team coach Lee Tae-Hoon at the ground though it's unlikely that Sokngorn will feature in the forthcoming AFC Challenge Cup matches against Macau as they clash with the start of the Thai league season in the 2nd week of February. Two more former Crown players from last season, Sani Saidu and Friday Nwakuna, will also be plying their trade in Thailand, for Division 1 team Songkhla FC and were at the game as well, alongwith former Crown manager Makara Be. Two players who I didn't see were Prince Justine and Julius Ononiwu, who have signed up with Thai Division 1 team Chula United, who have just this minute changed their name to, wait for it...Big Bang Chulalongkorn University. Yes, BB-CU FC. Don't ask.

Prince Justine (middle) and Julius Ononiwu (right) join BB-CU FC

Transfer gossip

There's nothing better than a bit of football transfer gossip and the word on the street is that 4 players who were plying their trade in the Metfone C-League last season, have been snapped up on contracts ahead of the new season that kicks-off next month in the Thailand 1st Division. They include 3 players who appeared for Phnom Penh Crown last season, with top scorer Uche Prince Justine (pictured) hooking up with the C-League's top scorer last term with 25 goals, Kirivong's Julius Ononiwu, at Chula United. That means Chula have the two best marksmen over the last two seasons in Cambodia on their roster. The other two former Crown players who will be donning the kit of a Thai team next month will be Sani Saidu and Friday Nwakuna, who have joined the 'Fighting Bulls' at Songkhla FC. No news as yet on other players who were strutting their stuff in the C-League last season and who have been conspicuous by their absence this time around.

Prince on the move

Justine, center, celebrating winning the 2010 C-League title with his teammates

One of the foreign players who made the biggest impact on Cambodia football in recent years is set to ply his considerable footballing talents in another country sometime soon. Uche Prince Justine, who is still just 19 years old, and who won the Golden Boot award for scoring the most goals in the 2009 Cambodian League season (21 goals whilst with Spark FC) and who netted another 17 goals for his new team Phnom Penh Crown last term, has just completed a short spell in Thai football. He looks set to remain in Thailand though has irons in the fire elsewhere, but it looks like his time in Cambodia has come to an end. "I want to further my career whilst I am still young and I think I have seen it all in Cambodian football now," he said by email from his new home. "I kept my promise to Crown to stay and win the league championship and that's what I did." Nigerian-born Justine missed the championship-winning final over Preah Khan due to suspension but his 17 goals had him pushing the eventual Golden Boot winner Julius Ononiwu all the way. At the end of the C-League season last month, Justine took himself off to Thailand for a holiday and joined up with Mukdahan FC in the Thai Division 2 Regional League North Eastern Division and scored five goals in their final 4 matches. He'd previously played at Mukdahan in a mid-season competition in June when he was part of the PPC team that came top of a 4-team tournament. His powerful running and thunderous shooting, not forgetting his trademark celebration somersault, will be sorely missed in next season's C-League.

Sopanha sends Crown through to final

Phnom Penh Crown are as pleased as punch with their 4-2 semi-final win over Naga Corp

The David Beckham of Cambodian football, Sun Sopanha, who scored with two free-kick goals in today's semi-final

Sun Sopanha demonstrated his prowess from dead-ball situations to guide Phnom Penh Crown into next weekend's Metfone C-League play-off final. Their hard-fought 4-2 win over Naga was a great advert for the C-League in front of a big crowd at Olympic Stadium this afternoon. The game had a bit of everything thrown into the mix. Crown led 3-nil at the half-time interval and should've killed Naga off, but they "lost concentration after half-time" in the words of their manager Makara Be, and nearly paid a heavy price. Naga pulled back two goals and struck the woodwork but couldn't find the all-important leveller. Crown wrapped up the victory three minutes from the end although there was still time for Naga skipper Sun Sovanrithy to see the red mist and a resultant red card. Both casino-backed teams lined up at full strength, with Sok Pheng getting the nod up front for Crown instead of Nigerian Olisa Onyemerea, and it was Crown who got their noses in front on 20 minutes. Srey Veasna's high and hopeful ball into the area rebounded off the cross-bar and straight onto the head of Uche Prince Justine, who nodded it in from six yards with keeper Mak Theara floundering. Three minutes later and Sun Sopanha fired a free-kick as straight as an arrow past Theara from the edge of the box after Justine had been fouled. 5 minutes before the break and Justine turned provider with a neat pass to Sok Pheng who cleverly slipped his shot under the advancing Theara and Crown were three goals to the good at the interval.
A change of positions for Naga skipper Sun Sovanrithy into midfield gave his team a new sense of urgency and it worked immediately. Four minutes into the 2nd half and Meas Channa's quick corner kick caught Crown flat-footed and Joseph Oyewole headed in umarked. 5 minutes later and Sovanrithy despatched a penalty past Peng Bunchhay to narrow the gap still further. Thul Sothearith was adjudged to have pushed Teab Vathanak even though referee Sreng Haody was 30 yards away, but Vathanak has a knack of getting these decisions. Two deep Meas Channa crosses had Bunchhay scrambling , pushing one over the top but missing the second one completely, and breathing a sigh of relief when it hit the upright and was cleared to safety. At the other end Prince Justine went on a dazzling 60 yard run but his low drive was saved by Mak Theara and he picked up a booking soon after as he got further frustrated. His was one of 9 bookings in the game. Sun Sopanha finally finished off Naga's bluster when he curled in a 25 yard free-kick that went in off the post, three minutes from time to confirm his man of the match award. Just as the board with 5 minutes added on time was held up, Sovanrithy was booked twice in under a minute, for fouls on Tieng Tiny and Friday Nwakuna and was sent for an early bath. To be honest I was amazed the referee had waited that long to caution him as he'd kicked Crown players all game long without being warned. The healthy crowd of 8,000 (don't ever believe the attendance figures) had witnessed an exciting semi-final and the expert pundit that I am, got both finalists right in my pre-match predictions. Oh by the way, the new South Korean coach of the national team has still not arrived in Cambodia. Let's hope he can make it before next Saturday's championship-deciding play-off between Preah Khan and PPCrown. It's the least we can expect from the new man in charge of the nation's football future.

Phnom Penh Crown, the pundits choice to win the title. LtoR; (back row) Saidu, Veasna, Pheng, Tiny, Nwakuna, Justine, (front) Dara, Sokngorn, Bunchhay, Sopanha, Sothearith.

Naga finished on top of the league table in the regular season but lost out 4-2 to Crown in today's semi-final

A slice of one-upmanship by Naga's Sun Sovanrithy, presenting Crown skipper Thul Sothearith with a Naga pennant before kick-off

Phnom Penh Crown were this disorganized at the beginning of the 2nd half, when they conceded 2 goals

Crown boss Makara Be and striker Prince Justine face the press after the final whistle. Justine scored a goal but left the field in tears when substituted near the end of the game.

The moment(s) of truth

Cambodian referee Tuy Vichheka is someone I have a bee in my bonnet about. When he's not booking players on a whim and rattling up twelve or fourteen yellow cards in a match, with a couple of reds thrown in for good measure, he's making decisions that leave me speechless. One such decision, to disallow an Uche Prince Justine goal for Phnom Penh Crown on Saturday, that would've been in the running for goal of the season without a doubt, saw me demanding close analysis of replays of the incident on television pundit shows. There aren't any but you know what I mean. The Prince played two 1-2's with Oscar Mpoko to carve open the Khemara defence and powered home a finish in his typical bustling style. It was a superb goal but not in the eyes of Tuy Vichheka. He blew for a handball incident that only he saw and Nick Sells' excellent action shots posted here suggest that if a handball did occur, it was the arm of defender Sok Vannak that made contact with the ball. Typically, Vichheka then flashed the yellow card with his normal flourish, suggesting The Prince had sought to gain an illegal advantage. What poppycock. I will closely monitor the rest of the season where Tuy Vichheka is involved. This man needs to be watched.

Prince Justine (20) splits the Khemara defence with two 1-2's with Oscar Mpoko

The ball bounces up and onto the arm of Khemara defender Sok Vannak
The Prince brushes aside the challenge of Sok Vannak as he powers through

Prince Justine gets his shot away as he's challenged by Khemara's Kun Kuon

Goalkeeper Ly Sokheng is powerless to stop The Prince's goalbound effort

The Prince's ecstasy turns to acute disappointment as Tuy Vichheka disallows the goal and books the striker for deliberate handball
All photos courtesy of: http://www.nicksellsphotography.com

Headline grabber

Prince Justine can't believe referee Tuy Vichheka has disallowed his goal and then booked him - neither could I! Pic: http://www.nicksellsphotography.com

You can't keep him out of the headlines. Uche Prince Justine was fairly anonymous by his own standards for much of this afternoon's Metfone C-League match of the day as title favourites Phnom Penh Crown came up against a stubborn Khemara Keila and looked to be heading for a rare defeat. That is until The Prince reacted like lightning when Ouk Chheng Hort took too long to clear his lines and the league's top scorer took his tally to six in three games by whipping the ball past the Khemara keeper before he'd even realised. Khemara were crestfallen, having scored two goals in as many minutes through Sophal Udom midway through the 2nd half, despite having been reduced to ten men when Kuoch Sokumpheak was sent off for an out-of-character challenge a couple of minutes before. Oscar Mpoko had given Crown a deserved first-half lead but Khemara never gave up and will feel a little cheated at the final whistle. Referee Tuy Vichheka tried to make his mark on the game, as he normally does, flashing 12 yellow cards and the red for Sokumpheak. There was a touch of niggle in the game but 13 cards is way over the top, again. 2-2 the final scoreline. In the day's opening match, Build Bright took a while to dampen the high spirits of Prek Pra Keila before running out 4-1 winners with recalled skipper Prum Putsethy netting a brace. More from both games later.

Foreign imports

Two of Phnom Penh Crown's best foreign imports last season, Akeeb TJ Ayoyinka (left) who is now with Loei City, and Oscar Mpoko who is still on the roster this season

I was wondering what happened to some of the foreign imports in the Cambodian football league last season and looked down the list to see which ones caught my eye in the last campaign and who are now missing from the team rosters. Clubs are allowed to sign five foreigners and play 3 in each game. Most of the foreigners we see in the Cambodia game come from African countries like Nigeria and Cameroon. The stand-out foreigner last season was Uche Prince Justine, who top scored in the league with the less-fancied team Spark FC and who has moved onto the most-monied team in the league, Phnom Penh Crown this time around. He's already leading the scoring charts again with 5 goals in 2 games and injury notwithstanding, will be right up there again this term. That's if he's not spirited away to join a Thai team or suchlike. I'm not convinced that staying in the C-League will be the best option for the teenager's future development. Talking of Phnom Penh Crown, their bustling forward Akeeb TJ Ayoyinka is now with Loei City, in the 2nd Division of the Thai League but I've no idea where his fellow strike partner from Cameroon, Mohamadou Ousmanou has gone. Preah Khan Reach recently sacked their top scorer last sesason, Nigerian striker Olisa Onyemerea, whilst Ekene Ikenwa also went walkabout in the close season. Hopping over the border to Thai Premier team TTM Samut Sakhon for the new season is Nigerian striker Sunday Okonkwo, who did a lot of damage with 17 goals for Naga Corp as they won the league title last year. Word is that Khemara's livewire midfield maestro David Adeyinka returned to Nigeria to get married and settle down. So far the new batch of foreign imports have failed to impress, though a few of them have yet to appear due to visa complications. It seems that the likes of Prince Justine, Joseph Oyewole, Sani Saidu, Friday Nwakuna and Oscar Mpoko will be the ones to shine again this season.

Spotlight on The Prince

When he's not scoring goals, defenders will try to keep him off the pitch and receiving treatment. Pic: nicksellsphotography.com

Everyone will have their eye on the progress of The Prince - Uche Prince Justine - as he starts life with his new club Phnom Penh Crown. Last season's top goalscorer and Golden Boot winner in the CPL, with 21 goals in 18 games and aged just 18 years old, the powerfully-built Nigerian-born striker looks set to rule the roost again this time around, with two goals in his team's 8-1 demolition of Wat Phnom on Saturday. And if truth be told, I reckon he had his foot slightly off the gas pedal against the club that gave him his Cambodian opportunity last term. He admitted in his post-match interview for the tv cameras that he felt sad to score against his former family. Crown, his new team, look destined to begin the season with a flourish, with their opening six games against what most will term the C-League's also-rans, and I fully expect six wins from those matches before they start facing some of the better line-ups. Whoever they play, The Prince showed he's a match for anyone last season and I don't expect this campaign to be any different. The photos here are from the camera of Nick Sells, who's a regular at most of the C-League matches throughout the season.

Another attempt by Wat Phnom to keep The Prince at bay. Pic: nicksellsphotography.com

The Prince turns Wat Phnom defender Nathan Nwaowu inside out. Pic: nicksellsphotography.com

Devastating on the pitch, he's a nice guy off it too, as he explains his sorrow scoring against his old team. Pic: nicksellsphotography.com

Crown Prince

The Prince in the colours of his new team, celebrated a goalscoring debut this afternoon

Yes I know, it's the most obvious headline I could come up with and it didn't take me long did it. But you've got to hand it to the teenager, Uche Prince Justine, who scored his debut goal for his new team, Phnom Penh Crown, with less than a minute on the clock of his first game. It doesn't come much better than that. Well, it does, because he should've registered a hat-trick at least against Wat Phnom, finishing the game with two goals, as well as two assists and fluffing a couple of other chances he would normally gobble up. He also got booked for a tackle where he won the ball. The only problem facing Crown's team manager Be Makara, who I chatted to afterwards, is who to play up front with The Prince. As far as his new manager is concerned, The Prince will be the league's top scorer once again this season. He's that confident. The Prince is just 19 years old, he's built like a brick outhouse and he oozes as much confidence as his manager. In his post-match interview for CTN, he showed a sentimental side. "I felt bad, it was sad to score against my former team; it wasn't easy as they are like my brothers, my family. But I'm a professional footballer and I was pleased to score for my new club." And with Crown adding some real quality to their squad during the close season, I'm sure The Prince will flourish alongside his new teammates.

Be Makara is a very pleasant chap. We chatted as we watched the afternoon's second game, with the Crown team manager saying how pleased he was to begin the new league campaign with an 8-1 win. He extolled the virtues of his new acquisitions, with The Prince top of the list but he also enthused about lively winger Keo Chea, who also scored on his debut, after arriving a couple of weeks ago from Kep. Midfielder Friday Nwakuna has hopped over from Naga though didn't get a start today, as has striker Goodluck Cliff from Build Bright United. Sani Saidu, another from the powerfully-built foreigners stable, will undoubtedly form a rock-solid central defensive partnership with Tieng Ting, after joining Crown from Preah Khan Reach. Other newcomers include strikers Heng Sokly (Phuchung Neak) and Sok Pheng (Khemara), whilst left-winger Chan Rithy has finally moved to play his football in Thailand with Nakhon Phanom.

In front of the tv cameras after today's game are Phnom Penh Crown's coach Apisit Im Amphai and Uche Prince Justine (right)

The Prince is on the move

I'm in conversation with The Prince

The biggest transfer story of the new Cambodian Premier League season so far is the move from Spark FC to the moneybags of Phnom Penh Crown of last season's CPL top goalscorer, Uche Prince Justine. After the teenager's fantastic start to life in Cambodia last year, it was only a matter of time before 'The Prince' took his talents to a more prominent club, and they don't come more prominent or dominant than Crown. His first game for his new club next Saturday will be against his old club, now called Wat Phnom. Below, I've reprinted my interview with The Prince from the beginning of last September, just to bring you up to speed with the CPL's hotshot striker.

Talking with The Prince
Without doubt, the most exciting discovery of the current Cambodian Premier League season has been the prolific goalscorer and the CPL's leading marksman with 21 goals in 18 games, Uche Prince Justine of Spark FC. With his muscular physique, blistering pace over 20 yards and an ability to hit the ball hard, 'The Prince' has left many of his opponents trailing in his wake as he's taken the CPL by storm and all at the tender age of 18. He'll be 19 at the end of next month. His goals tally and his performances look even more impressive when you realise how young he still is. Justine arrived in Cambodia last November on a mission. "To play football in Nigeria you have to be very good and very strong. I was just a little boy and I needed to improve myself abroad before I return to play in my homeland. Many of my fellow countrymen do the same because its hard to get a contract with a professional Nigerian team. There are just so many players competing for a few places. Coming to Cambodia, signing my first professional contract, playing with Spark and scoring so many goals in my first season has been very good for me. I have learnt a lot and this will help me improve my game," he told me during our chat in the Olympic grandstand after he'd wrapped up his season with a hat-trick against Phnom Penh Crown.

"When I arrived last year, I joined the Samnang Development Academy team here in Phnom Penh, who help and guide young men like me who want to play their football abroad, especially here in Cambodia. A friend of mine, who played here, told me that I could succeed in Cambodia and that's why I came. Samnang shared the same training pitch as Spark and after a couple of trial games, I signed on for Spark." It was a marriage between two newcomers to the CPL, as Spark had just been promoted. "I joined Spark as they were new to the league and so was I, so I wanted us to grow and learn together. And that's what has happened. We've all learned so much, we are no longer boys in the league and our experience will make us better next year. My aim was to make sure we were not relegated and my goals have helped us do that, so I am happy for the team and my teammates. It's not just me, the whole team have improved so much and helped me score so many goals." With his 21 league goals out of Spark's tally of 30, it's clear to see how much of an impact he's had, as Spark finished their season one place above the relegation zone. There was talk mid-term of him joining Phnom Penh Crown during the transfer window, but that didn't materialize and instead, he simply got on with doing what he does best, scoring goals. With their final game against Crown just completed, I asked Justine about a couple of opportunities that he'd had in the game when he elected to pass and not shoot. "Football is a team game and I truly believe that. We play as a team at Spark and if I think I have a 40% chance to score but someone else has a 60% chance, then I will pass. As I did in today's game. Of course I love to score goals but I also want my team to succeed, and that's very important to me, because they are my friends as well as my teammates." I am absolutely convinced that with a more selfish streak in him then Justine would've scored many more goals this season, and I'm sure that will come as he gets older and more experienced.

So where did he learn to play his football? "I was born in Imo State in southeast Nigeria. Like every boy in my country their dream is to play football. I played for the Arugo FC Academy, which is a nursery club for youngsters, up until I was fifteen. I was lucky to then join the Orashi Academy and did well. I scored two goals that helped them win the play-off to get into the National Amateur league when I was seventeen and just before I came here. But I was just a little boy in Nigeria and I wanted to succeed, so decided to try and do that in a different country and environment. I have been happy to do that in Cambodia." He's certainly proved himself in the CPL this season and he puts that down to confidence in his own ability and as a devout Christian, he gives thanks to God as well. As an Imolite abroad, he'll hope to follow the lead taken by the most famous Imo State son, Kanu Nwankwo, who starred for Ajax and Arsenal, as well as won the Olympic football gold medal with Nigeria. For now, Justine is happy with his progress and with the season coming to a close, thoughts will now turn to the next stage of his development and career. With such a fantastic first season in Cambodia, I'm sure his exploits will have alerted clubs around the region and Spark will face an almighty challenge in holding onto their rising teenage star.