James Loving/ National Radio Text Service

Cambodia is remembered as being one of the strongest teams in the region during the 1950's and 60's, the Khmers never finished 1st in a regional tournament but did finish 2nd or 3rd early on in its history. When the American/Vietnam War spread to Cambodia football virtually disappeared. In the mid nineties Joachim Fickert from Germany came to Cambodia to rebuild and develop its football program.

Monday July 8, 2002

When a country is decimated for three decades by civil war there is very little time to play games, drink Coke, Pepsi or beer, eat pizza piled with cheese, Big Macs, watch HBO or MTV. Survival is on the menu of not much more than rice and water. That is the case of the Cambodian National soccer/football team who strive to survive, learn, win and succeed.

Cambodia Football Federation president Ravy Khek revived the game in the mid nineties by obtaining sponsors and the support of FIFA. Per Khek's request the German Football Federation assigned Joachim Fickert to coach the Cambodian squad in June 1996 It was his job to organize a team of low paid players with limited training to be competitive on an international basis.

Fickert was faced with a task of picking up the pieces and welding the fragments and remnants together in rebuilding a nations once proud squad. The job was and is to bring the glory Cambodian Football experienced in the fifties and early sixties when they fielded a formidable side.

For many years during the Vietnam War, Khmer Rouge Civil War and the coo of 1995-97 there was no organized soccer being played in the country. The conflicts destroyed the records of the history of Cambodian football. All that can be pieced together at this time is from the memory of those who were there or made mental notes.

Cambodia is remembered as being one of the strongest teams in the region during the 1950's and 60's, Khek noted. By his recollection Cambodia never finished 1st in a regional tournament but did finish 2nd or 3rd early on in its history. When the American/Vietnam War spread to Cambodia Khek said football virtually disappeared.

They were strong (in the 50's) he noted. He also pointed out that the team was competitive with Thailand, India and Burma who were then the best in the region. Fickert recalled that Cambodia had success in the 60's with wins over India, Japan and China. During the time that time they were recognized as being one of the better teams in Asia was highlighted by their fourth place finish in the 1972 Asian Cup tournament. Civil war followed as did the decline of Cambodian soccer.

Prior to Fickert's arrival Cambodia failed badly in their first international competition. In the 1995 SEA Games they finished last while giving up 32 goals and scoring 0. Fickert then came in to right the ship and the rebuilding process began. The depths of despair from the previous losses and the status of the team was a glaring example of the job that was ahead. Fickert had a long road to hoe.

NR photo Ravy Khek

The then 50-year-old Fickert had to assemble a side whose families come from backgrounds of the nations past and present... the Khmer Rouge, CPP [Communists], FUNCINPEC [The Royalist] and the Democrats. Whatever their background, past, political leanings or opinion [if any] Fickert had to meld a squad together to become teammates for one cause… to win for their torn and shattered nation.

There was little in the way of talent to work with when Fickert arrived in June 1996. He had to sort through the remnants of a squad with inexperienced international level players that had very few technical skills. They had virtually no familiarity playing against teams outside of their country. As Khek said of the situation, "There was no contact with the external world."

Practice and playing facilities were scarce. There was no youth training program from which Fickert could draw from to recruit for his squad. He had to start from scratch. Finding experienced coaches was also a challenge. There were few in the country.

With obstacles like these, Fickert knew that he had to find young players with talent... the question was where do you find them? He needed players that had skills, no or few bad habits that would listen and learn how to play the game technically. One resource was obtaining athletes from the military and police squads that already existed. As each competition came about Fickert kept beating the bushes searching for those new, young, talented and preferably tall players.

With the side that is currently primarily under 23-years of age, he was also having to look at prospects that were born just after the Po Pot era from 1975-79. He had to piece together a team to compete on an international level from a nation of only 12 million mostly undernourished people.

Fickert was looking at many prospects that also experienced the famine the country suffered in 1981. Most of his current players were born or conceived during a time that wasn't conducive for the populace to have had a stable nutritional foundation from their formative years. That situation continues today but even more so then.

This was something that was missing that no coach can provide or replace. What happened… happened. It was and is as if Fickert is faced with the task of cultivating a plantation from arid land. At this point it's the stage of planting and watering the seeds. The team will have to be nurtured to grow.

As time went on Fickert pruned his squad, slowly moving forward. He gradually replaced the older players with a younger group who had enthusiasm and were willing to listen and learn the techniques of the game.

Cambodia began to pick up the pieces taking part in regional tournaments such as the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) and Tiger Cup competitions. They made an impressive showing finishing third in the Presidents Cup in the Philippines in 1997.

The first sign of that transition occurred during last years Tiger Cup matches. Needing players for the competition Fickert started looking at games throughout the provinces. He found Chea Makara, a raw, highly skilled 17-year-old striker playing for a team that had no reputation.

His find paid off as the tall lanky Makara proved to be a diamond in the rough. He scored a goal in the teams 3-0 victory over Laos. It was one of only five goals scored by the team in four Tiger Cup matches.

It was his first International and overall competition with the squad. The gangly striker gained praise from television analysts covering the matches.

Teammate and Cambodian soccer legend, Hok Sochetra scored three goals in the Tiger Cup which tied him for the events scoring lead during the first round.

With a 1-0-3 record, Cambodia finished fourth in their group but proved to be worthy opponents. In their first match they narrowly lost to Singapore 1-0. In their second match they were blown out by Vietnam 6-0. Vietnam went on to finish first in the group with an undefeated record.

The young Cambodian team then settled down fighting tooth and nail in a 3-2 loss to the eventual Tiger Cup third place finishers Malaysia. The 3-0 victory over Laos followed.

After the competition the 27-year-old Sochetra left the side for three months to concentrate on his day job working for a cell phone company at the insistence of his employer. The $100 a month salary the players receive wasn't enough to make ends meet and Fickert understood Sochetra's priorities.

The powerfully built striker was in a situation where his employer demanded his time. The time they demanded was the time Sochetra needed to practice with the squad. As the teams captain they relied on his leadership. o Sochetra the choices were... a job with [hopefully] a future or the game… the job won.

Sochetra returned to the team for the opening World Cup qualifying match against Maldives. He found himself out of shape, overweight, without power and out of sink with his teammates. It was Makara who scored the teams only goal in a 1-1 tie.