Cambodia new coach

Phnom Penh: Football Federation of Cambodia has announced the appointment of legend Hok Sochetra as new coach of the national team ahead of the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup qualifiers from October 5 to 13, 2012.

Considered to be one of the best strikers during the 90s in Southeast Asia, Sochetra scored 42 goals in 64 internationals between 1995 and 2003. He replaced Korean manager Lee Tae-hoon.

His immediate assignment will be the Suzuki Cup where Cambodia will be playing their first matches after not being in action for more than a year.

“Sure, I’m so happy for this job, but it’s not an easy job for me. I need to work hard with confidence, this is the national team,” the 39-year-old Sochetra told the Phnom Penh Post.

“We will work hard together to lead the Cambodian team to the final stage of the Suzuki Cup.”

Sochetra has aimed not to favour any players under his management but will instead select players who are competent both on and off the pitch.

“I love every player, I don’t have any favourite player, so I’ll choose based on their competence on the field and also their discipline,” said the former Hello United FC and Samart United FC coach.

“Some players are good in playing but not good at living with other team-mates, so I will not choose them. Some fans accuse the national team when they lose because they love the team so much. But they must also know the standard of our side.

“Before playing, we never think about losing but most of us know we are unlikely to get a result against the likes of China and North Korea.”

Apart from his glory days as a player, Sochetra has also made his mark as a coach by winning the National League twice and National Cup, and was featured as one of Cambodia's most prominent coaches on the-afc.com during the celebration of the Asian Coaches Year in 2010.