Round-up

The draw for the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup, to be held jointly by Vietnam and Indonesia, was made today. The holders of the cup, Vietnam, who won it in 2008 by beating Thailand 3-2 on aggregate, have been drawn in the strongest group, Group B, alongside Singapore and Myanmar, together with the runners-up from the qualifying tournament in Laos at the back end of next month. In Group A, Thailand will face Indonesia and the SEA Games winners Malaysia, as well as the best of the qualifiers. Cambodia, under new coach Lee Tae-Hoon, will take part in the qualifying matches in Laos, meeting the hosts on 22 October, then Timor Leste two days later and finally Philippines on 26 October. 2 of the the 4 teams will progress to the finals.
The Suzuki Cup group matches will follow from 1-8 December, to be staged in Hanoi and Jakarta. After the group matches, the top two teams in each pool will progress to the two-leg semis to be staged home and away on 15/16 December and 18/19 December. The first leg of the final will be on December 26 with the final three days later.

The Phnom Penh Post broke the news today that the management team at Phnom Penh Crown, manager Makara Be and coach Apisit Im Amphai, have both parted company with the recently crowned 2010 Metfone C-League champions. They appear set to join 2nd Division clubs in Thailand, with the native Thai coach joining Buriram and the former Crown manager linking up with Mukdahan FC as their Marketing and PR boss. It signals the start of a completely new regime at Cambodia's premier club, who are due to announce on Monday, the start of a residential football academy for youngsters, the first of its kind in the Kingdom.