PPCFC

Larger than life

11 Players 1 Heartbeat on the front door of the Crown Sports Bar on St 200 

The Crown Sports Bar, adjoining Crown Massage on Street 200 has recently decorated its glass-frontage walls and doors with large photographs of the Phnom Penh Crown playing squad. The larger-than-life posters include the likes of Kouch Sokumpheak, Chan Chaya and Tieng Tiny. The sports bar has a large screen for watching live sports, especially football of course, and was the venue for the press conference to announce the arrival of head coach David Booth.

Larger-than-life player portraits adorn the outside walls of the Crown Sports Bar

Nice to have

The latest pearls of wisdom emanating from the Cambodian national team coach, Lee Tae-Hoon, who recently admitted he was at fault for Cambodia's miserable exit from the World Cup qualifying rounds, is to take the national team to the country of his birth, South Korea, for training and practice matches before they embark on the BIDC Mekong Cup batch of games in October, but more importantly the SEA Games in Indonesia in November. He hasn't got the thumbs-up from the Federation as yet, though it sounds as if he's either homesick after 13 months in the Cambodian hot-seat or he's resorting to what he knows best to improve the squad, following their failure in the three major competitions they entered in the past year. His dream is for the national team to spend two weeks training and playing against 1st and 2nd division Korean League teams, who will provide a much better standard of opponents that are available either at home or in Southeast Asia. He feels his team is well below the standard of neighbouring countries like Thailand and Vietnam and to improve their basic techniques, he wants them to face better opposition. He comes from South Korea so that's where he would like to take his team. I wonder if he's got a game against the Korean women's team up his sleeve, as he used to help to coach them. Obviously, the trip could cost a pretty penny, so sponsors would need to be found to cover the costs. Usually, the national team take off for a stay in Vietnam before a big tournament, so this would be a departure from the norm. If it can be achieved, it might well be the shot in the arm that the national team needs after a few dismal performances, especially outside of the country. Even though our record against visiting South Korean university teams like Ulsan is poor, and better standard K-League teams might whip our arses, the experience and lessons learned could be invaluable. I say go for it, if it's financially viable.