Nehru Cup: Cambodia Football Coach Wary Of Bhaichung

Cambodia's national football coach Scot O'Donell is aware of Indian captain Bhaichung Bhutia's class and has some plans to stop the striker from scoring goals in the inaugural encounter of the Nehru Cup international football tournament here Friday.

'I have seen Bhaichung play before also and he is a prolific goal scorer. But I have some plan against him and few others,' said O'Donell, an Australian, at a press conference here Thursday.

The 40-year-old coach is on his second visit to India and players like Bhutia, Deepak Mondal and Mahesh Gawli, who are in the national side, are not unknown to him.

The last time he visited India was in 2005 as the coach of Singapore club Geylang United, who were held 1-1 by East Bengal in an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup match in Kolkata. In the away match, East Bengal emerged victorious 3-2.

'I have seen all these players when they played for East Bengal and they did very well to come back from behind and draw the match 1-1,' recalled O'Donell.

The Australian said that Cambodia have come with their best team and playing an international tournament like the Nehru Cup will always be beneficial for them.

'We need to play more international tournaments like the Nehru Cup, which gives us good exposure. We are not here to make up the numbers and we will be competitive every time we go out to play,' he said.
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