A second defeat

Cambodia's Kuoch Sokumpheak (9, blue) takes on the Vietnam defence

Cambodia's national team came unstuck against their Vietnamese U23 opponents for the second time in four days, losing this afternoon's friendly encounter at the Thong Nhat stadium, 3-0. Goals from Hoang Danh Ngoc and Hoang Van Binh in the 1st half and and Le Van Thang after the break did the damage. The Vietnam U23's are getting in shape for a cup competition involving six other countries next week and of course, gave the Cambodian U23's a lesson in last year's SEA Games, beating them 6-1, so the two friendly results don't exactly come as a surprise. However, the results don't matter as much as the team getting much needed match practice, putting the new coach's playing style, tactics and formation into action and allowing the coach, Lee Tae-Hoon, to get a good look at his squad under match conditions. We still have just over a month before the Cambodian squad returns from their training camp in Vietnam to head for Laos and the qualifying round-robin matches in the AFF Suzuki Cup against Laos, Timor Leste and Philippines.