It was our 10th year and once again the boys did themselves and their country proud.
For Stage 1, Team Cambodia were drawn in Group C.
First up, the boys beat South Korea 7-5. This followed by a famous victory over football giants Germany 5-3!
Next up was a very tight game against Italy and the team was unlucky to lose 5-4. Heavy defeats against reigning champions Mexico (1-9), and Romania (2-10), moved us into Stage 2.
A great 4-2 win against Finland was followed by disappointing losses to strong Scotland (0-6) and Hungary (0-5) sides and a 5-1 win over South Korea.
The 3rd and final stage was the trophy stage and Team Cambodia were to compete for the KNIF Mens Globe. A fantastic performance against Czech Republic (6-5) in the quarter final and put us into a semi final against Israel. A superb 6-0 win presented us with the opportunity to retain the trophy that we won last year in Glasgow. A tight final against Germany unfortunately ended in a 5-3 defeat meaning a 34th spot finish. A great effort all round.
The side’s 18-year-old super striker Mut Sakpich, who found the net an impressive 18 times in 13 matches, said after the campaign: “To be captain of my beloved Cambodia in an international football tournament in Norway is the greatest honour of my life. I love wearing the Cambodian jersey and to score 18 goals makes me so proud. My teammates were amazing. I hope all the Khmer people are proud of us. We played for them and gave 100 percent in all our games.”
We were delighted with the Cambodian team performance over the last 8 days of football. Playing 13 games in such a short period was a huge challenge for our our team but the Khmer warrior spirit meant they gave everything in all the games. Beating Germany in the earlier rounds was a highlight and our epic game Italian where we matched them goal for goal with it being 4 - 4 until they scored the winner with four seconds will live long in the memory. Our performances against Czech Republic and Israel where we won both matches to reach the final were fantastic performances. Losing to Germany in the final yesterday was hard for the players as they so wanted to win for the Cambodian people but Germany are a great football power so there is no shame in that.
- HFCA Founder and CEO Paraic Grogan said
Check out all the photos here
