The future

The future

Today's Phnom Penh Post article

The last of my reports from the adventures of the Cambodian U23 team that competed in the SEA Games is published in the Phnom Penh Post today. It's a round-up piece with national coach Scott O'Donell giving his views on what happened and what needs to happen in the future. Scott will submit a detailed report to the country's football federation of the team's showing at the SEA Games and what he would like to see take place in the future, taking into account the best practice from other nations. Preparation is a key element to any tournament and getting that right is a minefield in itself. One national team for example, Indonesia, sent their squad to Uruguay for months on end to hone their skills but still failed to reach the semi-finals of the SEA Games football competition. They also have a budget set aside for the national team of over $3 million. There is no guarantee for winning whatever the preparations are, you just have a better chance of success if your preparations are right. Some countries like Singapore have their best young stars playing together in league competition and yet Singapore, who gave us a footballing lesson in Phnom Penh a few months ago, failed to reach the SEA Games final too. As I said it's a minefield and Cambodia have had to negotiate a lot of those already just to get where they are today. There is no panacea to becoming a success overnight. It takes time, careful planning and a concerted effort from all sides and that vision of the future is what the Cambodian football federation must address sooner rather than later.
You can read the article online here.

On the radio

Anyone listen to Radio Australia? I was on the breakfast programme, Radio Australia Today, this morning, giving my thoughts on the SEA Games to the presenter Phil Kafcaloudes, just before 7.30am. It was just a quick five minutes talking about how the Laos public have embraced the games with gusto, how everyone loves the underdogs like East Timor and how enjoyable it was to attend the games and to see how seriously some countries take them, ie. Vietnam. The presenter loved the fact that Vietnam sent over 300 journalists to cover the event, whilst Cambodia sent just two, both from the Phnom Penh Post. Radio Australia focuses on Asia and the Pacific region and regularly has news items from Cambodia and neighbouring countries.
Much nearer home, at the Olympic Stadium here in Phnom Penh, the WOVD Volleyball World Cup is back in town, after creating such a stir when Cambodia grabbed bronze at the 2007 event. Six teams - Cambodia, Germany, Slovakia, Poland, Malaysia and India - will compete for the cup this time around and matches will begin tomorrow and last through 'til 20 December, though at the moment, I can't find the schedule of games and times. Get along if you can, the standard of play in 2007 was top drawer and I expect no less this time too.
The match report from Friday's Vietnam game is in today's Phnom Penh Post and can be read online here. It's also below.

My article in today's Phnom Penh Post

Home or away

Cambodia 'at home' against Malaysia, face to their right

Cambodia 'away' against Thailand, face to the left for the national anthem

The national anthems of the two competing teams are played before each match and depending on whether you are the designated 'home' or 'away' team will determine which way you turn to face, and respect, both the national anthem and your flag. The flag is actually held on the ground by ball-boys rather than fluttering from a flagpole. It would be far more helpful for my photograph album if the players simply faced forward. Organisers please take note.
One of my pet hates is being played out at every game at this SEA Games. When a player goes down injured, the referees' automatically call on the stretcher-bearers who invariably arrive at the player before the physio, man-handle him onto the stretcher before any initial assessment of the injury is made. This happens at all the CPL games in Phnom Penh too and is basically an accident waiting to happen. The stretcher guys are less qualified to do the job than my pet cat (if I had one) and the day they aggrevate a broken leg or a ruptured cruciate ligament is the day when the football authorities might just wake up to this unacceptable practice. Someone, please stop this nonsense. I've spoken to the head doctor who attends some of the CPL games and he agrees with me 100%. I wish someone would listen before someone suffers.
Two more medals this afternoon, both in taekwondo, which makes 4 in all to-date. This time we went one better and grabbed two silvers for Sorn Eliot (who won a bronze in the last SEA Games in Khorat) and So Naro, in the heavyweight and middleweight sections respectively. Taekwondo is proving to be a fruitful medal sport for the Khmer contingent.
My match report from the Malaysia game is in today's Phnom Penh Post.
Cambodia fail to advance here.

Press talk

Yesterday's Phnom Penh Post carried three of my stories.
Cambodian U23s waste chances but win easily here
Victory crucial for Cambodia here
Brief: Stats from SEA Games here.

Congratulations to Cheat Khemara, who collected Cambodia's first medal of the 25th SEA Games with a bronze in the individual Poomsae section of Taekwondo, held at the National University complex. Laos won the silver, Indonesia the gold medal. I don't begin to know what Taekwondo is all about though google tells me that Poomsae are a set sequence of movements that consists of the various fundamental stances, blocks, punches and kicks logically arranged in a meaningful order in response to attacks from multiple imaginary assailants. Whatever it looks like, Cambodia have their first medal on the board. Cambodian Prime Minster Hun Sen is in Vientiane today to attend the formal opening ceremony of the Games, his first ever appearance at the SEA Games.

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