Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Crown pip it

Phnom Penh Crown move to within a point of leaders Preah Khan in the CPL
PPC striker Mohamadou Ousmanou netted the game's only goal
The Clash of the Titans took place at Olympic Stadium this afternoon and failed to live up to the hype. It was an okay sort of game but didn't reach the level of quality you'd expect from these two teams, both riding high in the Cambodian Premier League. As it turned out Phnom Penh Crown collected the win to move to within a point of league leaders Preah Khan Reach, but it should've been a draw. With Naga missing the suspended Om Thavrak, their lynchpin skipper and Crown without their top marksman Keeb Ayoyinka, supposedly off to a Turkish club, the personal match up of the day didn't happen. And the story of the game turned out to be former Naga striker, Mohamadou Ousmanou, who returned to haunt his old club and net the only goal of the game, 3 minutes into the 2nd half. Clear-cut chances were restricted to a mere handful throughout the whole game and despite being the league's leading scorers, Naga looked toothless as Crown came out on top. They have the evil eye over Naga and today was no exception. I liked the referee's style today as he consistently waved play on when players went down feigning injury, though he took 2 minutes to spot a serious injury early on, when the player was stretchered off and didn't return. The man in the middle simply can't win. There was a horn and a drum in the crowd today and it made a difference. Cambodian crowds are incredibly quiet, certainly by British standards, so it was good to hear some noise today, instead of the morgue-like conditions the games are usually played in.
Naga again pipped at the post by Phnom Penh Crown
The captains shake hands before the game begins, Chanbunrith (red) and Sothearith (blue)
The Phnom Penh Crown bench includes 3 national players
PPC asst-coach Bouy Dary and Mohamadou Ousmanou at the post-match press conference
Sidelined through suspension, Naga's Om Thavrak and yours truly share a half-time joke
The 'peanut princess' makes a comeback in a hat - pic by Nick Sells

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10 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot for reversing your absurd decision on posting pics of the "peanut princess". Your backtracking showed you're not a rigid, dogmatic guy and proved you can acknowledge past errors and move ahead. Hats off! I'm again peering with utmost interest your soccer blogs and becoming more and more interested in Cambodian football realities. - Dexter

July 23, 2009 3:21 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Andy,
I was about to advice you to be a bit more inconsistent sometimes (otherwise you'll end up a single), when I had the pleasant surprise to see you've backtracked from your mistaken decision to keep the "peanut princess" for your eyes only and share her with your readers at large.
Best Regards, Ted Donovan

July 23, 2009 3:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

THE PRINCESS IS BACK! I knew you were just kidding. Congratulations, from Alastair

July 23, 2009 3:27 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Andy, everybody knows you're a nice and sensible guy, and that you would eventually reconsider your bizarre decision to censure pictures of the "peanut princess" in your soccer blogs. That this reversal was accomplished in the blink of an eye, far from revealing any "inconsistency" in your character, is an extra motive of joy for all of us who regularly read your blogs. Goa ahead, man! - Sean Ferguson

July 23, 2009 3:35 AM  
Anonymous Prak said...

Angelina Jolie was apsara dancer in the previous life of her. I feel very gladd for come back of our prety Khmer princess. God bless you, Andy - Prak

July 23, 2009 6:27 AM  
Anonymous CHAKREY said...

lol ! // andy u being smart in bringing back the princes, she is the best ad to promote cambodia soccer // when u say no more pictures I thought is this guy crazy? now OK see was only a prancster or koom thom thom - chakrey

July 23, 2009 8:02 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

so cambodian soccer series has introduced "post-match conferences"... c'mon, these guys haven't reached a stage to justify this, seems they are rather eager to mimick Western-media ways, or maybe it was imposed by their new Australian coach... - Sy Seaman

July 23, 2009 8:08 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Am I dreaming or haven't I read just awhile ago you promising you wouldn't post any more pictures of the sweetie peanut seller? Congrats anyway for cancelling that silly decision. - DDDuncan

July 23, 2009 8:58 AM  
Blogger Andy Brouwer said...

You guys are a funny bunch. I reckon these 8 comments are all from the same person. Surely there's not THAT much interest in the 'peanut princess'?
The photo I posted today was taken by PPP snapper Nick Sells, who covers all the CPL games for the Post. I pointed out her new fashion statement in the hat and he clicked his camera. I thought her hat was quite snazzy.
Whilst the comments above made me smile, my personal decision to not take pictures of the 'peanut princess' will remain [until I change my mind]. However, if other people take her picture, like Nick, then that's a different matter.
And Dexter, I'm as dogmatic and rigid as the next guy :-)
Oh, and the press conferences have been happening for a while now. They are specifically for the Apsara TV crew who host a CPL football round-up on their tv channel every Friday at 6pm. This was the first one I attended and was all in Khmer, so I understood about 0.1% of what was said. And the room was full of mosquitoes, so I stayed about 10 minutes then got the hell outta there.
Andy

July 23, 2009 9:28 AM  
Anonymous Sarah Compton said...

Prak's comment was by far the funniest of all. Hard to believe all these comments were posted by just one guy. I use to read your blog on a daily-basis and this was the first time I've even noticed the peanut seller's picture. So all this fuss is about her... It had never before occurred to me, but Angelina Jolie does look like a Khmer apsara! --- Sarah

July 23, 2009 4:01 PM  

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