Cambodia National Team: Goalkeeper under investigation for match-fixing, 8 naturalized players still have difficulty reaching the semi-finals

On the evening of December 17, the hard-fought 2-1 victory over Timor Leste only kept a small hope for the Cambodian team before the final match of Group A of the 2024 AFF Cup. At the moment, the Cambodian team is ranked 3rd with 4 points (0 goal difference), equal to Malaysia but they are ranked higher thanks to a better fair-play index. Malaysia received 5 yellow cards while Cambodia only received 3 cards.

In theory, Cambodia still has a chance to advance if two conditions happen at the same time. One, they win against Thailand in the final match. Two, Malaysia defeats Singapore by a smaller margin than Cambodia's victory over Thailand.

Cambodia has not been successful with its naturalization campaign.

At the AFF Cup 2024, the ranking order is prioritized from the head-to-head index and then the goal difference. Cambodia drew with Malaysia, but lost to Singapore. Therefore, if Cambodia wins against Thailand but Singapore draws with Malaysia, both teams have 7 points, Cambodia will still be eliminated.

Thailand will certainly use a reserve team, but it is still difficult for Cambodia to cause a surprise. Meanwhile, the confrontation between Malaysia and Singapore is very difficult to predict. These are two unstable teams at the AFF Cup 2024. In the previous round, they could play very badly against weaker opponents but could immediately make stronger opponents like Thailand falter.

The Cambodian team being eliminated early from the group stage still happens frequently. However, at the AFF Cup 2024, this is no different from a failure for Angkor Wat football. The Cambodian Football Federation invested heavily by naturalizing up to 8 players. Many of them, such as Nieto, Ogawa, Taylor, Khan Mo, Coulibaly,... have not bad skills. But then, everything is still beyond the reach of coach Gyotoku and his team.

Cambodia 2-1 Timor Leste

The Cambodian national team was further shaken after General Sao Sokha, president of the Cambodian Football Federation, announced an investigation into the negative results of the defeat to Singapore. Vireak Dara was targeted. He made two mistakes that led to the home team's defeat to Singapore.

Just eight minutes into the game, defender Nick Taylor attempted to pass back to Dara. The 21-year-old goalkeeper then attempted to clear the ball out of the area. However, he made a serious error, allowing the ball to slip through his feet. Singapore striker Muhammad Faris immediately seized the opportunity and scored.

The first mistake cost Dara his confidence. Six minutes later, he made another serious error when he tried to play the ball from his own half. Dara passed the ball to defender Ose Takaki on the right wing but accidentally created an opportunity for Singapore striker Muhammad Shawal to steal the ball and double the lead.

AFF Cup 2024 from expectation turned into sadness for Cambodian fans from the field to the sidelines.

Mai Phuong

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/dt-campuchia-thu-mon-bi-dieu-tra-ban-do-nhap-tich-8-nguoi-van-kho-vao-ban-ket-ar914451.html