Cambodia emerge from troubled past in hope of building football future

T he big European teams summer in Asia on a regular basis but never make it to Cambodia despite the fact that Phnom Penh is a more passionate football hotbed than sleek megacities such as Shanghai, Singapore and Seoul. Cambodia is, however, slowly emerging in football with big crowds, young talent and, just this month, the hosting of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. This mini-Olympics for a region of 650 million has been a sign that the country can not only stage major sporting events but can challenge bigger regional rivals such as Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia on the pitch too.

It has been a long time coming but then few countries have had a harder journey. Three years after achieving independence from French Indochina in 1953, the Angkor Warriors played their first ever international against Malaysia. Just 16 years later, the team reached the last four at the 1972 Asian Cup, helped by three goals from the star striker Doeur Sokhom, losing 2-1 to eventual champions Iran.

Then came the Khmer Rouge, a revolutionary communist group that deposed the US-backed Khmer Republic in 1975. “To keep you is no gain, to kill you is no loss,” was one of their mantras. Estimates vary as to how many Cambodians died during Pol Pot’s rule but the numbers – mainly between 1.5 to 2.5 million people, then around a quarter of the population – are all unimaginable. Many players lost their lives too, including Sokhom. A Vietnamese invasion in 1979 deposed the regime but that was not the end of the misery with instability and conflict continuing for years.

Unsurprisingly, Cambodian football had fallen a long way behind. Closing the gap is going to take more time, which is one reason why the SEA Games are a big deal. The tournament, which