Roundup: Cambodia proud to host ASEAN U17 football championship

Cambodia was very proud to organize the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Football Federation (AFF) U17 Championship Tournament 2007, which went smoothly until the end, said Kek Ravy, vice-president of the Football Federation of Cambodia, here on Saturday.

He made these remarks after Thailand won Laos 3-2 in the final match in Saturday afternoon to become the champion and Vietnam beat Indonesia 4-3 to took the third place in the morning.

The tournament aimed at developing young players in ASEAN countries with professional skills in the football field. "I hope that someday in the future Asia will win the World Cup of FIFA," he said.

"We attracted thousands of spectators and it was a historical event here," he said.

There will be another match of AFF U16 in October 2007 in Indonesia, he said, adding that six teams, namely Cambodia, Hong Kong of China, Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan will join it.

During the final match, Thailand scored all its three goals in the first half of the match, while Laos had two in the second half of the match.

Laotian Coach Soulivanh Xeunvilay said his team was happy to be the runner-up.

"In the second half of the match, my boys presented dominant performance in the field," he said at the press conference held after the match.

Thai coach Prayoung Khunan told reporters that in the second half of the match, as his players were exhausted and had weak power, the Laotian team mounted up its pressure.

"We are very happy and lucky to win the Laotian team for the final match," he said.

The Thai team received the cup from Thong Khon, Cambodian Tourism Minister and president of the Olympic Committee of Cambodia.

All the matches of the tournament were done in order, despite of heavy rain now and then.

The only stain was the small-scale riot on Aug. 25, after Cambodia won Brunei 2-0 but the angry fans thought the team should have been able to score more goals.

During the violence, some 200 spectators smashed windows on four vehicles with wooden sticks and threw rocks at the military police guarding the Olympic Stadium.

Except Philippines, all ASEAN countries sent teams to the match.

The first ASEAN U17 football championship was held in 2005 in Thailand, with Myanmar being the winner, and the second in 2006 in Vietnam, with Vietnam the winner.

Source: Xinhua