Ten thousand reds to cheer football match in Phnom Penh

September 15, 2011
The Nation

Pheu Thai MP Weng Tojirakan on Thursday said more than 10,000 red shirts would next week attend the friendly football match in Phnom Penh.

The Thai team will comprise red shirts-turned-Pheu Thai MPs and the Cambodian side will be represented by Cabinet members and ranking officials.

"The friendly match will signal that the two countries have resumed good neighbouring ties," weng said.

He said Thailand and Cambodia would not go back to bickering like what happened under the Abhisit Vejjajiva government.

Crowds brave rain to watch inaugural Cambodian cup

PHNOM PENH, May 12 (Reuters) - Heavy rain failed to deter more than 20,000 Cambodians from turning up to watch Saturday's inaugural Hun Sen Cup, the first big soccer event in the country since the restoration of democracy in 1993.

As players struggled to control the ball on a pitch made slippery and muddy by the rain, Khemara beat Naga 5-3 to win the trophy named after Cambodia's Prime Minister and a prize of $10,000.

Buddhist monks, Phnom Penh residents and schoolchildren sang and beat drums as they watched the game.

"No matter who wins or loses it is the honour of our nation," said Buddhist monk Mao Vuthy, 24, as he sheltered under an umbrella with five fellow monks.

Organisers said many people had stayed home to watch the game live on television. "More people would have come if there was no rain," said Sao Sokha, chairman of the Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC).