Cambodia’s national team coach, Lee Tae Hoon, is switching his
thoughts to recovery mode after a string of disastrous results last
year as he embarks on a new year of hope.
The South Korean strategist, who took over the coaching reins from
Australia’s Scott O’Donell towards the end of the 2010 league season,
is reshaping the U21 side for a regional tournament in Brunei next
month.
As part of their preparations for the trip, the national U21 side will play a friendly against the
2011 SEA Games gold-medal-winning Malaysian U23 squad at Olympic Stadium tomorrow.
Although the Brunei tournament has been branded as an U21 event, the organisers have
allowed some leeway for teams to include a few senior players in the mix.
The warm-up game against Malaysia is the fifth in a series that began at the turn of the new
year.
The Brunei-bound hopefuls came up with a 5-1 victory over new league entrants Boeung
Ket Rubber Field but went down 1-0 to Build Bright United.
Against two of the more prolific top-flight league teams, the U21 side could muster only a 2-2
draw against Preah Khan Reach and 1-1 against Naga Corp.
But by all accounts, tomorrow’s fixture against Malaysia is the strongest opposition the
national side will be running into.
“It’s a stern test for the hopefuls, and the performances will probably help us in evaluating
individual merits,” Lee told the Post yesterday.
As many as 25 players are going through the paces in Lee’s preparatory camp. That number
will be whittled down to 18 for the Brunei tour.
phnompenhpost
Still, he said, Tehran's recent decision to start uranium enrichment of up to 20
percent in its Fordu facility violates UN and International Atomic Energy Agency
resolutions. "This does not add any positive sense in any case," Gatilov said.