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CAMBODIAN SOCCER Comes Together -Part 2 - "The Changing Of The Guard"James Loving/National Radio Text ServiceMonday July 15, 2001
The employer later gave Sochetra permission to return to the squad for the World Cup Qualifiers. It was too late, Sochetra was overweight out of shape and not in sync with his teammates. They were used to playing without him. On several occasions during a 1-1 draw with Maldives, Sochetra was wide open on the wing but didn't receive a pass. At that point it was clear that he was the forgotten man. It also was apparent to coach Fickert that it was a sign of change and transition. In the past Fickert said the players wouldn't try to do anything without Sochetra being the focal point thus being a one-dimensional team. They would rely on the older Sochetra to do it all. The young players grew up watching the incredible legend who is considered one of Cambodia's all time ever great players. He was idolized, admired and respected. His eventual demise was painful to witness. Money and business talked... while sport and leadership walked. The squad was now looking to each other in an effort to develop an overall team strength. Sochetra was then officially dropped from the side.
Thus his once promising career ended. It was a case of a superbly talented and gifted athlete being born in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sochetra's wasted talent was in part a result of how civil conflict can suppress and deny the fruition of a superbly gifted athlete's future. The team's not looking for Sochetra during the Maldives match pointed out a glaring flaw in the Khmer squads concept of team play. Players were trying to do too much on their own. In many instances they were trying to display their skills by going one on two or one on three. They were forcing and not looking to pass the ball to a teammate. The squad lacked players possessing great foot skills... it was a skill Sochetra had. Defensively the team had a propensity to fall into mental lapses. When they fell behind in the score they had a tendency to quit and get down on themselves. Aside from coaching the techniques of the game Fickert had and still has the daunting task of teaching the team how to be unselfish, flow and work together, never quit and keep a positive frame of mind. A match with Indonesia in Jakarta without Sochetra was the next test. Before a frenzied Indonesian crowd of more than 25,000 at Bung Karno stadium Fickert said his team was nervous. Though the young Khmers were previously exposed to playing away matches on neutral turf during the Tiger Cup they had never heard a partisan crowd as large or loud. The Indonesian fans were against them and they were rattled, losing 6-0. That game proved to be a learning and growth experience. When the slightly built Khmers faced China in Guangzhou they were before another frantic, capacity stadium crowd that was against them. The butterfly's from the Indonesian game were digested and gone. The young side had matured from that experience. They were ready to prove that they weren't going to permit a team to chew them up and spit them out.
The Khmers fought hard against their more physically developed, older, more talented and technically skilled opponents. They started to show what Fickert was looking for… confidence and a fighting spirit. This is when the new Cambodian team first showed signs of coming together without Sochetra. They played a tough match and drew even at one in the 12th minute when the young Makara scored a goal. The Chinese took the lead at the 22nd minute. The Cambodian team fought hard and held them until the waning minutes of the game when China scored their third and final goal. It was a proud moment for Fickert as he beamed between sips of coffee at a riverside café in Phnom Penh while recalling his team's effort in scaring the daylights out of the superior Chinese squad in the close 3-1 loss. It was a far cry from his earlier comments in May after a 4-0 loss to the Chinese before a home crowd in Phnom Penh's Old Stadium that was filled to capacity. At that time AP reported then him as saying, "We had some players today that didn't bring 100 percent. They had problems in their heads. They need more power, more fight, more spirit." Fickert also noted the positive side of learning from your losses and mistakes, "It was a good lesson for our young players and we will keep the video and we will see this several times in the future." Obviously with their improved performance in the China rematch, they studied the video, learned and improved. It was a major step forward for Cambodia as China went on to win the group and qualify for the World Cup. The China match proved that Cambodia could compete but there was a lot of work to be done. The question was what do you have to work with? When you think of Cambodian soccer... the key word is youth. The squad included two young players who were starters on the senior and under 23 teams. Seventeen-year-old Samnel Nasa was the squads youngest member. Kao "Blackie" Nisai joined the team as a seventeen-year-old and has matured and proved to be a stalwart in the lineup. The 2001 SEA Games competition was to be the true test in evaluating how much the Cambodian team developed. For the first time the SEA Games was designed for 23-year-old and under athletes. That should have placed Cambodia on a level playing field for the first time when they were pitted against competition almost as young as them.
Ten of Fickert's senior team members were included on the squad. Seven appeared on the 2000 Tiger Cup side. According to Asean Football.Com the squad included, Makara, Nasa, Nisai, Meas Channa, Peas Sothy, Pok Chanathan and Rith Dika. Nine of the players selected for the 20-man SEA Games squad were 18-years of age or under. Fourteen were 20-years of age or less. Twenty-two-year old Kim Chanburnith was the eldest member of the team. At the competition Cambodia had their work cut out for them. They were grouped with defending SEA Games champions Thailand, Laos, Singapore and Myanmar They were thrashed in their opening match 7-0 by the Thais. In their next game the young Khmers' fought hard resulting in a 0-0 draw against Myanmar. That was followed by a 5-0 defeat at the hands of Singapore and a 3-0 loss to Laos. That resulted in three losses and one draw with zero (0) goals scored and 15 against. After the competition it was discovered that mistakes were made by the CFF costing the team experienced key players that were eligible to be on the squad. Cambodia could have been better. Shoulda, coulda and woulda don't count in football, only results and the results were in. The losses and mistakes would also result in coach Fickert being held accountable and libeled. To be continued: Parts 3 & 4 Next: Part 3 - "Cambodian Football Hits The Wall." Related Stories: Cambodian Football Comes Together - Part 1 Cambodian Football, "Rising From The Ashes" Cambodian Coach Fickert Calls On Star Sochetra Joachim Fickert and Hok
Sochetra photo's AFC Marketing |
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