It was supposed to be a demo final we had a chance of winning, in a competition we had a chance of winning. However what we saw was just how far away we are from a gold medal on May.
Set up not to lose…
A week ago we knew what the set up would be. Eleven of the squad were defenders. A Back 5-3-2 sometimes becoming 5-2-3 but in general a defensive set up and one on which any creative freedom is shackled and our defensive frailties are exposed. The team has a decent shape in possession and you can see they’ve been working on pattern play in training.
Why so scared?
The question I would ask any Khmer fan right now is this;
Would you rather lose by 2 or 3 goals playing a boring style or go attack attack attack and probably still lose and even by more sometimes but you saw a great attacking style football that was exciting?
Honda has nothing to lose. It’s his last hoorah with the team and his legacy will not be remembered for what he did with the team on the pitch but more about the amount of signed shirts he managed to give away. So why not let this young team go and play some football that excites people?
The game itself was over after 30 minutes…
Malaysia dominated the opening period and were 2-0 after half an hour. The stocky center forward killing our eager defenders with his ability to roll them. People often forget defenders and what they’re supposed to do. Their job is not to win the ball, so why try to fight with a man twice your size for it? Ot Chelat!
Pisoth capitalized on a mistake and just after half time when we equalized to make it 2-2 there was real belief we might pull off a miracle. Both goals coming from Malay mistakes rather than us being great.
Two defensive mistakes of our own saw off any chance of us appearing in a final and a Sunday afternoon 3rd place play off with Singapore is the reward.
Football is a beautiful game and rather simple when broken down. Be realistic in your approach. No one in this world started playing football in the playground at school with their friends all standing in a line defending. We ALL wanted to score goals and be a hero. We all ran forwards, laughed out loud and chased the ball to score goals. Yes we have to defend at times but setting up on that fashion is boring to play, boring to coach and boring to watch. Give us something to shout about!!
This article is adapted from BPVE SPORT Cambodia, reported and edited from the great team – Cambodia Sports Review.
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