PHNOM PENH: Host Cambodia made a blistering start to their campaign in Group A of the AFF Under-23 Championship when they thrashed Brunei DS 6-0 this evening at the Morodok Techo National Stadium.
U23 Cambodian dominated both halves scoring 3 goals in each. It was one-way traffic right from the beginning as Cambodia threw everything at Brunei in their effort to draw first blood.
“We did not have as good a preparation as we would have liked but the players rose to the occasion and performed well on the night. We did not prepare any specific game plan for any teams where the focus was on our own game of high possession,” said Cambodian head coach Hirose Ryu.
Buoyed by close to 25,000 screaming fans, the young Koupreys were all over Brunei when they struck the opening goal in the 18th
Brunei coach, Aminuddin Jumat, adopted a safety-first approach and instructed his team to sit deep and protect the goal their resistance fell flat after the first few minutes.
In the 10th minute, Sa Ty drilled in a low cross from the left wing for Chanthea but the striker blasted his effort over the crossbar much to the disappointment of the home crowd. But the 19-year-old made amends for his earlier mistake by finding the back of the net soon enough.
It was a short corner played in towards Sosidan who thereafter lobbed the ball in the mix targeting Chanthea. The Boeung Ket forward, despite being marked by two defenders, jumped the highest and nodded the ball past keeper Abdul Mohammad to give his side the lead.
Cambodia doubled their lead within just two minutes when the Sosidan himself got on the scoresheet. It was again a poorly defended set piece that brought misery on Brunei.
The Angkor Warriors continued to dominate proceedings and just after the half-hour mark Sa Ty joined the party after scoring the third for his team. Taing Bunchhai floated in a long cross-field delivery for Ty who showed clean pair of heels to defender Amirul Zaidi before scoring past a hapless Mohammad.
They added the fourth in the 72nd minute from another dead-ball situation after winning a free-kick from 30 yards to goal. Min Ratanak lobbed the ball inside the box which changed its course after taking a wicked deflection. Bunchhai was at the right place at the right time and the defender made no mistake to score from close range.
In the 86th minute, they scored the fifth when Sor Rotana found the net after latching on to a perfect delivery from Mario Quintao from the left flank. The suffering was not yet over for Brunei as Narong Kakada stunningly dribbled past three defenders in a short space to ripple the net completing the 6-0.
