Cambodia - the final challenge before the final

The Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC) was established very early - in 1933, but Cambodian women's football has not developed compared to other women's sports in the country. The national women's championship was not held until 2010.

The Cambodian women's football team had their first official match in June 2018 with an impressive 12-0 victory over Timor Leste. The Cambodian women's football team started participating in the Southeast Asian arena at the 2018 AFF Cup and will only participate in the SEA Games in 2022.

Coach Prak Vuthy has been leading the Cambodian women's team since 2018. Previously, Mr. Prak Vuthy led Boeung Ket (2013-2016) in the C-League (Cambodian National Championship) and Electricite Du Cambodge (2017 season) in the Cambodian Second Division. The achievements of the Cambodian team coach include 1 C-League championship in 2016 and 2 C-League runner-up finishes (2013 and 2014).

The Vietnamese women's team (left) is determined to defeat Cambodia to enter the final match. (Photo: QUANG LIEM)

At the SEA Games held at home, the Cambodian women's football team has prepared its squad thoroughly. In the squad, coach Gao Fulin's team has two naturalized Canadian players, Melanie Hoekstra and Selena Chhiv.

Defender Melanie was born in 1999, is 1.83 m tall and plays in the Republic of Cyprus for Omonia Nicosia. Midfielder Selena was born in 2002, and is playing for CS MRO Outremont in the Canadian University Soccer League. These two players have both made important contributions to helping the Cambodian women's team reach the semi-finals of a SEA Games for the first time.

In the group stage, the Cambodian women's team won against Laos (2-0), Singapore (1-0) and only lost to Thailand to finish second in Group B with 6 points.

The Cambodian women's team has lost all of their matches against the Vietnamese women's team. At the 2022 Southeast Asian Championship (July 2022), coach Mai Duc Chung and his team beat Cambodia 3-0. At the 31st SEA Games (May 2022), the Vietnamese women's team also beat Cambodia 7-0.

Commenting on the semi-final match on the evening of May 12, coach Mai Duc Chung said that Cambodia is not much different from Thailand and Myanmar. The Cambodian women's team has made rapid progress recently. The defense has many tall players, so the ability to fight in the air as well as launch attacks is good. The even force and good playing tactics are other strengths of the home team.

"Having reached the semi-finals, there is certainly no weak team. We have prepared carefully for the match with the home team, the goal is to win to be present in the final on May 15" - said the coach of the Vietnamese women's team.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/the-thao/campuchia-thach-thuc-cuoi-cung-truoc-tran-chung-ket-20230511224617052.htm