Cambodia and the Philippines drew 1-1 on Tuesday in football, earning one point each in Group A of the SEA Games, making it tougher for the host team Cambodia, who will play Indonesia and Myanmar, to qualify for the next stage.
The draw caused Sao Sokha, president of the Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC), to issue a statement on Facebook that he will resign if Cambodia does not go through to the next stage.
“After Cambodia decided to host the 32nd SEA Games, I have made every effort to sacrifice more than 10 years to honour the Khmer nation through football,” said Sokha, who is also the commander of the National Military Police.
“If the 22-year-old football team will not be able to advance to the semi-finals, I am in the spirit of responsibility as the President of FFC will resign immediately,” he said.
Cambodia’s Under-22 team advanced to the semi final in 2019 during the 30th SEA Games in the Philippines, after beating Malaysia 3-1.
Cambodia's 1-0 lead over the Philippines in the 25th minute was upset by a late goal, dashing the host team's hopes of an easy advance to the next stage of the SEA Games.
The first Cambodian goal was scored by striker Ky Rina when Sieng Chanthea handed him a short pass just outside the penalty box, which made fans excited by the counter attack.
In the second half, Cambodia continued to press the Philippines team and some key players, such as Chanthea, Rina, Sophal Dimong and Chea Sokmeng, suffered injuries and were substituted.
Philippines’ striker, Carino Dov Anthony Misael Santico, disappointed Cambodian fans in the 90+3 minutes, when he headed the ball and scored, resulting in a 1-1 draw.
Cambodia’s team manager, Keisuke Honda, posted on his official Facebook page after the competition that “it's easy to say that we could have won the game. I'm proud of my guys for getting 1 point tonight. We will change our mentality soon and we will prepare for the next game!”
