Cambodia eager to end Indonesian record
CAMBODIA national team head coach Leonardo Vitorino has urged his side to finally end their run of 23 years without a victory when they tackle Indonesia today in an international friendly at Olympic Stadium at 6:30pm.
Since 1995, the Cambodian football national team have failed to beat Indonesia in all their meetings, losing 13 out of the 14 matches between the two sides. Cambodia lost 1-0 in their last meeting in 2014.
The Brazilian coach, who was appointed earlier this year after previous boss Lee Tae Hoon stepped down, wants his players to turn this unwanted record to their advantage against Indonesia this evening.
At a press conference held at Olympic Stadium yesterday, Vitorino told reporters: “Over 23 years, Cambodia have never beaten Indonesia and I highlighted this fact to all the players, particularly the two youngest, who are just 17 years old, because I want to push and encourage the players to do their best and end this record.
“We have to aim for a positive result from this match.”
“As Cambodia head coach, I am focused on achieving a good result from this game. The Cambodian Foot- ball Federation have supported us greatly, which has made it easy for us to be well prepared and I cannot see any negatives in the team.
“Our focus is on the match with Afghanistan in the AFC Asian Cup qualifier [on June 13] but we also have to focus on [today’s] match and we have to try our best.”
Ahead of today’s match, which will be broadcast live on BTV News, Cambodia’s star striker Chan Vathanaka said: “Just from our training sessions together over the past few days, I can see our team understands each other and we are improving as a side.”