21. Seeking Divine Intervention

 

                              Picture Credit: Photo Dharma wikipedia creative commons

                      

The C-League Table with 2/3 Games to go

The Run In

We have the hardest last two games of the league season, with trips to rivals, Nagaworld and Phnom Penh Crown, who are in 5^th and certainly no pushovers. Therefore we must beat Nagaworld as they have relegated Kirivong at home on the last game, which as we found won’t be a gimme, but someone they should beat. Boeung Ket also face the bottom side and the unpredictable National Defence. It seems as if Kirivong will also have a big say in the destination of the C-League title.

EDC

16^th October: Nagaworld (a)

18th October Nagaworld (a) (Prime Minister's Cup Final)

31^st October: Phnom Penh Crown (a)

Beoung Ket

23^rd October: Kirivong (a)

31^st October: National Defence (a)

 National Police

23^rd October: National Defence (a)

31^st October: Angkor Tiger (a)

Nagaworld

16th October: EDC (h)

18th October EDC (h) Prime Minister's Cup Final 

30^th October: Kirivong (h)

Seeking Divine Intervention

Picture Credit: Keng Venvuthy wikipedia creative commons

Today was Wednesday and as usual on this day of the week the training ground at Prey Veng was empty, as my semi pro players were at the Cambodian National Grid doing their day jobs. It was a hot day, as it normally is in Cambodia, but today even with the office windows wide open and the fan on full blast, the heat was still stifling. 

There was no fixture either for another two weeks, not until 16th October when we travelled to our title rivals Nagaworld in what is being billed as a title decider, although there are 4 teams who still have a chance of winning the league.

Then, stupidly just two days later on the Monday we meet the same opponents in The Prime Ministers Cup Final. The scheduling was terrible and surely they could have moved the league fixture forward a few days for the benefit of both sides.

I was fuming about this and together with the heat of the day was not in the best of moods or great company for my Assistant Manager, Nen Borey who sat opposite me in the office.

"Why can't we just play the league match even just a few days earlier to make sure the players can have a couple more days rest," I raged. "It's alright for Nagaworld they have professional players, but our boys are only part time." It's ridiculous to expect them to play two matches of such importance in just 3 days."

"There's nothing more we can do, reasoned Nen, We've tried the Cambodian FA and they refused to budge, we tried talking to Nagaworld and they told us to get a grip (I think that was also in reference to my Keegan style rant at the press conference) and our Chairman even tried writing a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen himself, but he has received no reply."

We were supposed to be going over some scouting reports and various admin tasks as we usually did on a Wednesday, but this morning neither of us were feeling it.

Nen Borey suddenly had an idea.

"Then there is only one other person we can take this matter to boss!"

"Who, The President of FIFA?"

"No."

"The Dalai Lama?"

"Getting closer.."

"I don't know, "

"We take this matter to The Almighty Buddha himself."

Nen Borey suddenly leapt out of his office chair and sat cross legged on the ground as if about to pray.

Buddhism is the dominant religion in Cambodia and it was not unusual to see my staff and even some of the players pray and seek guidance from The Enlightened One before a game. While I was not a practicing Buddhist, in fact not a particularly religious person at all, I allowed this to happen as I thought it was good for team morale and at the end of the day, who am I to tread all over their culture in their country.

While I did not really believe that Buddha would make the Cambodian FA, Nagaworld, or even Hun Sen sympathise with our plight I allowed my Assistant Manager to continue his ritual uninterrupted. 

After a few minutes Nen leapt to his feet.

"Boss, this is no use, it is too hot in here I cannot do this here.. but I have an idea.. These scouting reports.. they can wait until tomorrow. Boss, I think it is about time you saw a bit of our wonderful country," he said excitedly.

"Ok sounds interesting, what do you have in mind?" I enquired.

"I am going to take you on a spiritual journey, my friend. I am going to take you to the largest religious site in the whole world, the great, Angkor Wat he said pointing excitedly at the centre of a Cambodian flag which was flying in the corner of the room and has a depiction of Cambodia's most famous landmark in the middle.

To be honest I'd had enough of endless scout reports for players who were clearly not good enough, or good players who did not want to join a semi-pro outfit. Secondly I'd only really seen Cambodia through a coach window as we were travelling to and from away grounds and even then I was thinking about football, not really taking in the obviously beautiful landscapes that this country had to offer.

"Yes OK, I'm up for it. I'll leave a note for the scouting team which acknowledges their hard work, but tells them to stop scouting these players and concentrate on Nagaworld, then we shall go. How far is it?

Nen Borey took his car keys out of his pocket. "We'd better go now though, it's nearly a 6 hour drive, just to warn you.."

I nodded in agreement, anything to get out of the office for the day and Wednesday was a spare day anyway. We walked out to the club car park at Prey Veng in Eastern Phnom Penh and set off on the long, spiritual journey to Angkor Wat, the largest religious site in the world.

As we travelled out of Phnom Penh on the NR11 road, passing houses on either side, interspersed by the odd shop and palm trees, still in the blazing sun; and dodging past the oncoming cyclists and scooters which are common modes of transport in Cambodia, Nen Borey told me about the history of Angkor Wat.

Apparently it was built in the 12th Century by the then King of the Khmer Empire, Surayavarman II and was originally a Hindu temple. It was the  kingdom's state temple and the centre of the Khmer empire, which stretched into modern day Thailand, Laos and Malaysia. In fact Angkor in the Khmer language means 'Capital City,' while 'Wat' means temple. Then in 1177 Angkor Wat was taken over by The Chams, a rival group to the Khmer and the new king Jayavarman converted it to a Buddhist site of which it has remained ever since. The site was abandoned after the 16th Century and was left derelict, becoming buried under the jungle which grew up around it.

Fast forward 300 years and Angkor Wat was re-discovered by the French, who had colonised Cambodia in 1863, making it a Protectorate. After its re-discovery by the French explorer, Henri Mouhot the site then underwent excavation and reconstruction to its former glory. After Cambodia became independent in 1953 the re-construction carried on until the Civil War and Khmer Rouge occupation of the 1970s halted its progress. During their regime Angkor Wat remained largely undisturbed, apart from some bullet holes which were caused by a battle between Khmer Rouge forces and the Vietnamese Army. In 1992 Angkor Wat became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, becoming the largest tourist attraction in Cambodia and a destination for Buddhist pilgrims from across the world.

The drive was long. A five hour car journey for an Englishman is a military operation and the distance between Prey Veng to Angkor Wat was approximately 200 miles. That's like travelling from Leeds to London in the UK. I was surprised how far it was in a seemingly small country like Cambodia. 

After many miles of straight roads with flooded fields either side and mountains in the distance, intersected by the occasional town or village which lay on the NR71, we finally reached our destination at around 1.30 in the afternoon.

We parked in the car park and got out, bought our tickets and made our way to explore the magnificent temple. I am not a religious man, but I was taken aback by the sheer size and magnificence of this place. It made the ruins of Fountains Abbey back home in Yorkshire look like a mere parish church in comparison. 

Football was furthest from our minds as we absorbed the mystique and aura of this place. As we stood in the middle of a square, surrounded by the walls of the ruins I felt a tap on my shoulder. There stood before me was a lad, no more than about 10, with his father.

"It's him, EDC! EDC! I'd love it if we beat them love it!"

"Mr Rudd, selfie please selfie," he exclaimed excitedly.

I was unsure how to respond and whether the taking of selfies was permitted on such ancient holy ground, so I reluctantly posed as his father, held his smartphone up to take me and his beaming son.

"Thankyou Mr Rudd, EDC! EDC!" I grinned at him and his father, who nodded to say thankyou as they walked away. 

I went back to admiring the ruined temple once again when I was approached by an older man. 

"Mr Rudd, you are manager of Electricité Du Cambodge?"

"Yes I am sir. Nice to meet you," as I shook his hand.

"My village of Chhlong, by the Mekong river, we often have power cuts, the electricity supply is not good! Please can you fix?"

"Well sir, I don't really have anything to do with the electricity supply, I just manage the football team, of which most of the players work at the Cambodian National Grid, but I will have a word with one of my players, Maol Daravon, who I think might be able to help."

"Thankyou Sir, thankyou, hope you beat that Nagaworld scum in the Hun Sen Cup!"

"Thankyou, we'll do our best Sir!"

While conversing with the old gentleman, what I was oblivious to, but Nen Borey was trying his best to manage was the ever growing crowd around us in the courtyard.

We had now been recognised by almost everyone around, especially by the locals and the odd bemused Chinese tourist. Suddenly somebody cried,

"Jonny Rudd's Electric Army!", "Jonny Rudd's Electric Army,!" "Jonny Rudd's Electric Army!" More joined in.

"Jonny Rudd's Electric Army!," "Jonny Rudd's Electric Army!"

So here I was stood in the middle of the largest religious site in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992, 200 miles away from my apartment in Phnom Penh and thousands of miles away from Blighty, having my name chanted over and over again, Football truly is a religion in Cambodia.

Then one wag piped up, "I'd love it if we beat them" and the rest of the crowd shouted "Love It!" in response. I had to admire their ingenuity, although I was slightly embarrassed by the attention and the reference to my famous press conference.

I turned to Nen Borey, who was probably just as embarrassed as I was.

"That is how much you are loved in Cambodia boss!" he shouted over the surrounding noise. 

It did not take long before security stepped in and dispersed the crowd.

"If you all hate National Police clap your hands." (Clap Clap!) Boo! Boo!"

Emerging from the crowd was a very well dressed little man, adorned with bright orange robes and  glasses.

"Mr Rudd, Mr Borey," he greeted us with a little bow with his hands clasped together in front of him.

"My name is Sonny Mekarna, I am from the Wat Ounaloum temple in Phnom Penh. Greetings. It is great to meet you both. Your football team, it has given us great joy to see them play so well! Please, come and join us in prayer. I hear you have some important games coming up!"

He led us around the corner from the courtyard in which the chanting had taken place. There before us was the most beautiful lake. It glistened serenely in the blazing afternoon sunshine. Sat in a circle on a piece of grass were more orange robed monks, who greeted us warmly.

"Let us pray to The Almighty Buddha, for Electricitie Du Cambodge to win the league and cup this season! 

As I gazed out over the lake as we began our meditation I felt so calm and relaxed. When I closed my eyes I imagined Suon Veasna crossing the ball to the far post and an imaginary Buddha, dressed in the navy blue shirt of EDC heading in the winning goal to win the cup for EDC!

After a fantastic time of prayers, meditation and chat, we bid our holy friends farewell. As we made the long journey back to Phnom Penh I felt that we had the divine inspiration to win, regardless of how close the fixtures were, just two days apart. We would find the strength and The Almighty Buddha had given us that.

Nen Borey may only have a 'Judging Player Ability' rating of 3, but he has a 20 for thinking of great days out in Cambodia on our "days off!"

        Picture Credit: Sam Garza wikipedia creative commons

Match 29: Nagaworld v EDC 16/10/21

It’s been a long two weeks since our thrilling 4-3 win over Angkor Tiger which I am not sure works in our favour, as the buzz has somewhat faded from that game. My trip to Angkor Wat has given me a boost and I believe we can still win at the very least one of league or cup. They don’t come much bigger than this. Last year’s champions are just a point behind us and still in with more than a shout of retaining their crown. Kelechi is still banging the goals in for them, along with the Japanese winger Kawabata, who is a threat on the left. On paper they are better than us, but then this season we have made a living out of beating the bigger sides against the odds and find ourselves in with a chance of winning our first Cambodian title. Whatever happens in the next three games we have done brilliantly this season to be even in this position, despite our Newcastle style meltdown.

Just before kick-off news came through that The National Police beat the National Defence 1-0, which means the old bill go to the top of the table and we slip to 3^rd.

Team: 4-2-3-1 Channou, Channroeurn, Khemarin, Daravon, Sophaon, Etim, Makara, Sung Rot, Fasal, Veasna, Chanraksmey

Nagaworld 2-1 EDC

Piseth, Kelechi  /////    Sung Rot

Disappointed! We could have won this, but Nagaworld showed why they are champions today. After a bright start from us, with Sung Rot’s stinging shot tipped over the bar, it was the hosts who opened the scoring. A random free kick, flighted to the back post was met by the head of Piseth to break the deadlock. We rallied and forced a couple of good saves but at half time it was 1-0 to them. I put on Keo Udom at half time, in place of the dependable Makara. He made an instant impact when he ran at the heart of the defence, before finding Chanraksmey in the penalty area, His poor touch was a stroke of genius as it allowed him to be tackled. The ball fell to Udom who squared it to Sung Rot who found the corner of the net. I really thought from here we would go on and win. Instead. Nothing. Not a sausage, just their throw-ins, their free-kicks, everything for them... We couldn’t lay a glove on them, couldn’t keep the ball or create anything. Then, the killer blow. Their full back, Charatana had the ball on roughly the halfway line and seemingly there was no danger, until he unleashed a pinpoint ball to the onrushing Kelechi who muscled his way past Khemarin and Sophina  to lash the ball into the net… That was it really, I set to all out attacking, but I was just met with a wall as Nagaworld just snuffed out anything we could muster. Everything, tackled blocked or offside. This was a frustrating performance which promised much, but delivered little. No C-League title for EDC this season. It’s safe to say, Buddha doesn’t do football…

EDC have a very slim chance of winning the C-League, but can they exact revenge on Nagaworld in the Prime Minister's Cup Final? Find out next time on The Ultimate World Football Manager Game!

Read the next part of The Ultimate World Football Manager Game, Mixing Sport with Politics here