Cambodian national football coach

Scott O'Donell called together head coaches of Cambodian Premier League

(CPL) clubs Monday at the National Sports Centre on the outskirts of

Phnom Penh with the aim of seeking their cooperation and support for

his plans to improve the country's standing in world football. Cambodia

are currently placed 179th in the FIFA rankings, sandwiched between

Samoa and Seychelles. The meeting was deemed a success by the

Australian-born coach, with nine of the ten CPL clubs represented.

O'Donell views the buy-in from the CPL coaches as an important step on

the road to improvement, especially with the upcoming SEA Games in Laos

in December. The national coach has now run the rule over each of the

CPL teams in order to identify the pool of talented Khmer players at

his disposal for the national team. With the SEA Games age limit set at

23, O'Donell feels that the U23 squad will form the nucleus of the

Cambodia team for the foreseeable future.