Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Phnom Penh: Coach Lee Tae-hoon is looking forward to the challenge posed by the third round of qualifiers for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup after Cambodia beat Chinese Taipei 2-0 in Tuesday’s play-off second leg to progress to the final round ahead of the next edition of the continental championship in the United Arab Emirates.
Hong Pheng and Prak Mony Udom scored for Cambodia at the National Olympic Stadium as Lee’s side added to last week’s 2-2 draw in the first leg in Kaohsiung City to seal 4-2 win on aggregate.
Cambodia must now wait for the start of the third round of qualifiers in March next year, with 24 teams set to compete for 12 places at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
Match Report: Cambodia 2-0 Chinese Taipei (4-2 agg.)
“We got a very important win today. My players need experience to play a high level team, so now we get the opportunity thanks to the win,” said Cambodia’s Korean coach Lee, who turned 45 on Tuesday.
“Thanks go to my players who gave a good performance today. This game was very different to the game in Taipei because of the humidity perhaps.
“I predicted before the game that they would attack us as they needed the away goal.”
Cambodia had earlier lost all eight games in the previous round of qualifiers, which was a combined campaign for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup, having been drawn in a group alongside Japan, Syria, Singapore and Afghanistan.
“Our players still lack some basic skills; the reading of the game is something that needs to be worked on,” added Lee.
“The tempo of the domestic league is very different and it’s something I worry about. They will now go away to their clubs for slow paced domestic league games and I can just hope the players can maintain their momentum for international games.”
Chinese Taipei could also still earn their place in next year’s qualifiers, but Toshiaki Imai’s side must overcome Timor-Leste in a final play-off which will be played in September and October.
“We are disappointed with the loss of course, but that's football. We gave away an early goal and it was always going to be difficult from there,” said Chinese Taipei’s Japanese coach Imai.
“I am very impressed with (Keo) Sokpheng and (Chan) Vathanaka, who were tricky forward players that we struggled to contain.
“Our attack was bad today with little ability to finish.”
Timor-Leste yesterday lost 6-0 on aggregate to Malaysia.