Cambodia ends qualifiers on a high with Northern Mariana Islands victory

By Daniel Webb

Oct 10, 2022

One on one: Cambodia's Mao Ban battles for possession with Northern Mariana Islands’ Philip Megino. Photos: AFC/Mark Avellino Photo by Mark Avellino Photography

Cambodia ended its Shepparton adventure with a win on Sunday night, downing Northern Mariana Islands under lights at McEwen Reserve.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

Playing out the last game of their AFC U-17 Asian Cup qualifying group, the Cambodians got the job done, producing a 4-0 win.

A fitting end to an entertaining tournament, a strong first-half performance was enough for the men in blue to get over the line.

Possesion play: Cambodia's Tum Makara makes a run. Photo by Mark Avellino Photography

While Cambodia opened the game on the front foot, some impressive goalkeeping from NMI’s Vicente Jose Reyes and defending from centre back Cody Soriano Shimizu kept the scores locked at 0-0.

However, in the 21st minute the deadlock would be broken, with defender David Var curling in a free kick from near the corner flag to put his side 1-0 up.

“We are very glad we got the win,” Cambodia coach Inoue Kazunori said.

“The Northern Mariana Islands players worked hard and they never give up, we can learn from them."

One on one: Cambodia's Keang Virekboth Kheang and Northern Mariana Islands’ Nolan Manuel Ngewakl fight for the ball. Photo by Mark Avellino Photography

It would take another 19 minutes before Cambodia would be celebrating again, with a goalkeeping error resulting in Menghong Sou pouncing on a chance.

Now two goals up and playing with plenty of confidence, the men in blue were up and about and after NMI failed to clear the ball, Cambodia’s supporters would be cheering again.

With the ball spilling into his path, a fantastic touch and finish from Cambodian defender Tum Makara at the top of the box extended his side’s lead to 3-0.

Attacking play: Northern Mariana Islands’ Ruben Guerrero makes a run. Photo by Mark Avellino Photography

When the teams came out in the second half the game opened up and NMI had a number of chances to score.

A penalty shout, along with some good attacking runs had supporters hoping for a goal, however, it was not to be, with a 91st-minute Makara Soun strike rounding out a solid Cambodia win.

“It was good (the tournament),” Kazunori said.

“We had a match against China and a match against Australia, the score was huge, but our players understand where we are at.”

A small contingent of Cambodian fans travelled from Melbourne to watch the team play and player-of-the-match Kheang said it was exciting to see the support on the other side of the globe.

“We wanted to show to the Cambodians living in Australia that we tried our best,” Kheang said.

Focused: Cambodia's Thavisiv Sonn with the ball. Photo by Mark Avellino Photography

“I was excited and inspired being the captain for the game and it motivated me to do my best.”

For NMI, the match capped a tournament full of improvement and coach Michiteru Mita said a number of inspirational messages helped spur the team on.

“I was so impressed and shared them with the players,” Mita said.

“We’ve never had this kind of experience before.

“While the winner (of the group) takes everything, we never believed that the loser could move the people, so I learnt and the players learnt from the Australian people.”

All smiles: Cambodia poses with travelling supporters. Photo by Mark Avellino Photography

Key player - Keang Virekboth Kheang - Cambodia

Pulling the strings in the midfield for Cambodia Keang Virekboth Kheang set the tone for his side’s victory. It was a captain’s contribution from the young talent and he is sure to have a bright future.