22. Mixing Sport with Politics - The Hun Sen Cup Final
There is an old saying, 'Never mix sport and politics.' It seems though this saying never crossed the Gulf of Thailand into Cambodia, as their principle cup competition is named after their Prime Minister, Hun Sen. This guy has been in office since 1985 and is one of the longest serving leaders in the world. Naming your major cup competition after your Prime Minister got me thinking, what if they did this back in England? Currently the FA cup would be known as The Boris Johnson Cup and I can imagine that Liverpool and Everton fans would be horrified at the thoughts of their teams winning the Margaret Thatcher Cup back in the 1980s.
Anyway Hun Sen apparently will be there at the Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium to present the trophy to the winners, either us or Nagaworld.
Match 30: Hun Sen Cup Final EDC v
Nagaworld 18/10/21
Here we go! After
Nagaworld all but ended our title hopes in the league, just two days ago, we
come up against them in the Hun Sen Cup Final. I have dry-cleaned my suit,
sorted out tickets for my family and friends, who have travelled all the way
from England and refined my tactics to try and beat the mighty Nagaworld. This
is my first chance of silverware in the Ultimate World Football Manager Game
and despite our disappointing league form over the course of the season the lads
deserve something to show for what has been an amazing season so far. Tactic
wise I have gone for a slightly different formation. Veasna is sadly suspended,
but this has created the opportunity to change things up a bit. We will play a
4-3-1-2 formation, with Makara and Etim providing the engine room win midfield,
Ouch Udom playing as a Mezzala and Sung Rot in behind the front pairing of Keo
Udom and Chanraksmey. I feel we are more potent with these two up front and
they have 24 goals each in league and cup. It is a gamble, but one worth taking
as we struggled to contain their midfield three in the last game. The only
downside is we lack width and will have to rely on Sophahon and Ratana getting
forward from full back. I think this is the only way we can beat them and bring
some much deserved silverware back to Prey Veng.
Match Report
We kicked off and made a bright start. Our tactics were working perfectly, negating their midfield and then using the engine room to spring attacks of our own, with Keo Udom looking dangerous in behind the defence. What we hadn’t bargained for was their right back, Chanratana, who was bombing forward and with Leng Sophahon pre-occupied with marking their right winger, this proved a problem and our undoing for their goal. Yamin, who usually sits in front of the back four burst forward down the right flank. Nobody seemed to track his run or do anything. ‘Someone get over there’ I shouted from the bench, but it was too late. Yamin squared it to the onrushing Chanratana who smashed it past Kong Rafat after just five minutes. Terrible start. Then we came into it, creating same chances of our own. Leng Sophahon crossed from the left, K Udom cooly flicked the ball on for Sung Rot, but his tame shot was saved by the keeper. Hope. Then Khemarin’s long ball forward was picked up by the dangerous K Udom but his shot was well saved. Udom played the ball into the area. Chanrakmey shot first time into the side netting. He had more time to compose himself. He would have scored that chance earlier in the season. He snatched at that one. Our star striker looks anxious and this is a problem. 1-0 down at half time, I take Sok to one side and tell him there’s no pressure on him and to play his natural game. I told the rest of the team to keep working hard and the result would come. They seemed motivated and I was confident of a response in the second half. After 55 minutes I introduced two wide players, Saray and Fasal, in place of Makara and O Udom, both were playing poorly and I needed width. Saray made an immediate impact as his cute flick header found Chanraksmy at the far post but he took too much time and his shot was blocked. We pressed forward, but didn’t create much. As in the league game their defence held firm, blocking shots, shackling our forwards and were tigerish in midfield. They won a few random set pieces, but these came to nothing. Just as things were getting a little desperate came the moment which will be talked about amongst EDC fans for years to come. A breakaway from one such set play for Nagaworld saw K Udom surge down the left. Our opponents had put too many men forward and suddenly it was 2 on 1. Udom moved forward, gobbling up the ground in front of him. Chanraksmey was making ground unmarked to his right. There was only one defender between the two strikers who have 48 goals between them this season. Keo Udom does his part as he slips a perfect ball for our man Chanraksmey who is into the penalty area. Surely this is the moment, our star striker, 24 goals this season, 11 caps and 5 goals for Cambodia, the best player ever to have worn an EDC shirt. Club legend, Sok of the flippin’ Rovers to equalise in the last minute of the game! Then ohh noo he scuffs his shot horribly into the grateful keeper’s arms. This was Brighton’s Gordon Smith against Manchester United replayed 38 years on, thousands of miles away in The Olympic Stadium Phnom Penh Cambodia. Head in hands, hands on head. It’s not our day today. It wasnae to be..
Chanraksmey must score! Chanrakmey did well until the finish cried the text commentary mockingly. Gordon Smith, Sok Chanraksmey…. Oh dear…
Final whistle, the players are devastated, Sok is inconsolable, I tell them they have done the club proud, but nothing, nothing can take away the pain of cup final defeat… Their goalkeeper was man of the match which says it all!
Final score: EDC 0-1 Nagaworld
Chanratana 5
But wait..!!
As Nagaworld fans poured onto the pitch at the end of the game to celebrate their team's victory I caught sight of a familiar face.. none other than Sonny Mekarna, the Buddhist monk who Nen Borey and I had met during our trip to Angkor Wat. In his jubilation he threw off his orange robes to reveal a Nagaworld shirt underneath! I couldn't believe my eyes! The monk who we had prayed with at Angkor Wat for EDC victory was a Nagaworld fan! What on earth?
I pointed this out to Nen Borey who was stood next to me in the dugout. Borey turned to me and shrugged.
"I thought there was something dodgy about them. My fears have come to true boss."
"What do you mean?"
"There was one bit of the prayer, well I didn't want to tell you at the time, but I think they might have put a curse on Sok Chanraksmey.
At one point they said they prayed for Chanraksmey to 'nuk,' which means 'to miss.'
"Well that may explain a few things. I had no idea what they were mumbling about at Angkor Wat, I presumed it was favourable towards EDC not Nagaworld. I don't speak Khmer"
"Boss you understand I could not interrupt or walk off, it would have been seen as very rude and could have become public knowledge. I just hoped I had misheard them, or the curse did not work. You were so upbeat after that visit and the morale in the camp was high, I did not want to spoil the mood."
While I was, in the heat of the moment, slightly annoyed with my Assistant Manager for not speaking up, in some ways I could see that it was a 'no win' situation. Firstly how would I explain to Sok Chanraksmey that he isn't playing in the cup final because we think he has a monk's curse on him. That would probably generate a massive Unh next to his name and a transfer request and then if the press got hold of the story... Whatsmore he has been brilliant for us all season and if I told the rest of the lads that Sok wasn't playing then what would that do for team morale and I'd also probably be laughed out the dressing room if I told them the reason.
No best play him and hope the curse was just a load of nonsense. Unfortunately the chances he missed during the final, it was almost as if a curse had been put on him...
We have gained a mighty £10.76K for losing the Hun Sen Cup Final.
Some Hun Sen Cup 2021 Stats
Top Scorers: EDC 23 goals
Top Goalscorer: EDC's Keo Udom 6 goals
Most Shots on Goal: EDC 106
Most Tackles won: EDC 82
How did we not win this?
Looming Contract Crisis
There has been a ticking timebomb at EDC throughout the 2021 season and that is because several of our top players are up for contract renewal at the end of the year. These are notably Veasna, Chanraksmey, Saray and Daravon. All of them say the same thing, they are interested in signing the contract, but feel the offer will be ‘inferior to what they already have…. Well at least hear the offers first guys and I will be very generous given the level of performance we have enjoyed this season. I think these could go right down to the wire and given our relative success there will be offers coming in for these players from our rivals as the end of their contracts near. I tried to ask the board to increase the wage budget, but they declined my request. The thing is these players should at least give me the chance to offer them something, rather than being met with a red wall…Watch this space on this one!
Back To The Bread
& Butter Of The League
Top of the Table going into the last game
1. Boeung Ket 52
2. National Police 51
3. Nagaworld 50
4. EDC 49
5. Phnom Penh Crown 46
This is how it stands before most of us head to the final round of fixtures. We can still win the league, but a lot has to go in our favour for this to happen. We must beat Phnom Penh Crown and hope everyone loses every game. I would consider this a very slim chance. We need to beat Crown though so a strong side will be fielded just in case a miracle occurs.
Phnom Penh Crown
2-7 EDC
Booysen 21, ////// K. Udom 39, 50 Veasna 45,76 O Udom 48 Fasal 52 Rothesary 91
Nieto 76
This was too little too late. If I could just take 4 goals out of this game and re-distribute them into both the Nagaworld matches we would probably be league and cup champions. On such fine margins things are decided. We absolutely destroyed Crown as we played with freedom and confidence, free of the shackles of the previous two games.
Amazingly in the opening 20 minutes, it was all Crown, as they had chance after chance and the only times we have made it into their half, Udom kept being caught offside. We had lost the fizz and spark we had earlier in the season and sadly looked a shadow of ourselves.
South African, Boyens fired in an impressive free kick for Crown to take a deserved lead. Then suddenly we come back into it. Sung Rot had a chance from Veasna’s low cross and then the right winger headed over from close range. Nieto roasted poor young Ratana and he went close. From the resulting goal kick the ball reaches Keo Udom who lays it off the Sung Rot who drives forward, before slipping in Udom who fired a low shot past the keeper. 1-1.
We’ve woken up and suddenly after a torrid opening 20 minutes look far more like our old selves. Ratana’s throw in reached the impressive Ouch Udom who ran forward before playing a delightful through ball to Veasna who dinked the ball almost Panenka-like past the keeper. 2-1.
From a long goal kick, Udom laid off for Sung Rot who played it wide to Veasna on the overlap. He crossed in low and Ouch Udom rather scuffed the ball into the back of the net for 3-1!
The ever brilliant Veasna picked the ball up in the centre circle, before lofting a hopeful ball forward. The defender missed the header and Keo Udom ran onto it.. he doesn’t miss those.. 4-1
Phnom Penh Crown are so bad now that they can’t even throw the ball to their own player. Ratana found Math Fasal who cut inside like a good Inverted winger, before releasing the unplayable Veasna down the right. He crossed the defender missed it and Fasal stole in at the back post to bundle home number 5!
We are just toying with them now. Ratana found substitute Saray, who played it to Etim who found the other sub Chanraksmey whose beautiful weighted ball found the onrushing Veasna who slotted in number 6. Where was this in the Hun Sen Cup Final?
An angry Nieto skinned Ratana before petulantly firing in a consolation.
Veasna, Saray and Fasal combined before laying off to the young substitute Long Rothesary who fired a 25 yard pile driver into the bottom corner to put extra gloss on a stunning victory and send a warning shot to our rivals for next season. To rub salt into the wounds, Um Channou saved a late Booyens penalty. What a crazy end to the season, but this gives us hope after a long and ultimately unsuccessful season in terms of silverware.
Final C-League Table
2021 Season
1st Boeung Ket 55
2nd Nagaworld 53
3rd EDC 52
4th National Police 51
5th Angkor Tiger 48
Boeung Ket Win The C-League
Boeung Ket clinched the C-League Title after a 4-0 hammering of National Defence. Congratulations to Boeung Ket.
Rudd wins Manager of The Year
Despite our Keegan-esque fall I have been awarded Cambodian Manager of The Year for taking part-timers EDC to the brink of glory. A third place finish and a Cup final have impressed the judges as the team lit up the C-League with some impressive performances. Well at least I've won something this season!
So near and yet so far away, EDC did not manage to win any silverware in the 2021 campaign, but won the hearts and minds of the Cambodian people (except for a few monks from Phnom Penh) Their relative success though has brought their players to national attention and the larger professional clubs are watching. Can EDC keep hold of their best players over the forthcoming pre-season and can they finally build an all conquering team? Find out next time on The Ultimate World Football Manager Game!
Read the next part here:
https://ultimateworldfmgame.blogspot.com/2021/05/23-end-of-season-2-round-up.html
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