Vientiane: Laos overcame a two-goal first-leg deficit to progress to the second round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers at the expense Cambodia after scoring twice in extra-time of the second-leg for a remarkable 8-6 aggregate win over their ASEAN neighbours.
Cambodia went into Sunday's match at the National Stadium in confident mood having won the first-leg in Phnom Penh 4-2.
However, Laos had levelled the tie on aggregate after half-an-hour, with star striker Lamnao Singto opening the scoring in the 19th minute before Khampheng Sayavutthi grabbing a 31st minute second.
Chhin Chhoeun put the visitors back in the driving seat on the stroke of half-time but Cambodia's advantage was short-lived, with Souliya Syphasay restoring parity two minutes into the second-half before Laos regained the initiative thanks to Lamnao's second of the game in the 55th minute.
The Cambodians were not giving up without a fight and Kouch Sokumpheak, a first-leg scorer, found the net in the 75th minute with the goal that saw regulation time in Vientiane finish 4-2, mirroring the scoreline four days earlier and necessitating 30 minutes of additional action.
Laos took control of the contest and scored just four minutes into extra-time courtesy of Visay Phaphovanin before Sysomvang Kanlaya put some distance between the home side and the Cambodians with his team's sixth of the match in the 112th minute, setting up a second-round clash with China.
It is a day for Laos when they beat the National football team of Cambodia for 6:2 and claimed the ticket to go to the next round of World CUP 2012 in Brazil.
The home side taking the lead on 19 minutes through Lamnao Singto. Laos went two-ahead just on the half-hour when lanky striker Khampheng Sayavutthi netted a header to put Laos level on aggregate and ahead on the away goals rule. But Cambodia came steaming back with a goal from Chin Chhoeurn to make it 2-1 on the stroke of half-time. Cambodia lead 5-4 on aggregate. 45 minutes to go.
Laos scored again 2 minutes into the 2nd half through Souliya Syphasay to make it 3-1 and 5-5 on aggregate, with Laos ahead on away goals, again. On 55 minutes Lamnao Singto grabbed his 2nd and Laos' fourth to go 4-1 ahead though if Cambodia score again, it will be all-square, on aggregate. Cambodia have scored a 2nd, through Kouch Sokumpheak on 75 minutes and though it's 4-2 to Laos it's 6-6 on aggregate, and away goals all square.
There's got to be more to come. In the extra time, 4 minutes into extra time and Laos stormed ahead, 5-2, through Visay Phaphouvanin, who replaced Lamnao Singto a minute before the end. More over, on 112 minutes Sysomvang Kanlaya, another sub, netted to make it 6-2 to Laos and to end Cambodia's World Cup hopes for another four years.
Next round, Laos will meet China! Don't forget to cheer for Laos again.
The Japanese professional footballer Association (JPFA) and some Japan's favorite footballers are planning to visit Laos after finishing Japanese league play at the end of this year.
The delegation will be led by JPFA Chairman Mr. Toshiya Fujita and will be the first time that he and Japaneses footballers have visited Laos.
The JPFA will discuss collaboration with the football federation and the Ministry of education and sports to develop the nation's players and lao sports, said director general of the international relations department of the lao national sports committee, Mr. Soulasith Oupravanh.
The lao football team plans to compete in the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia in November and the ninth National Games to be held in Luang Prabang province in December.
During the visit, the national team will play the Japanese in a friendly match and expect to gain valuable experience in the process because the JPFA has skillful players and the Japanese league currently competes at the international level.
The talented footballers of Laos will be able to train and play in Japan and will be supported by the JPFA, Mr. Soulasith said.
Currently, the Lao players in the U-16 category are talented and will play in ASEAN tournament in Vientiane next month.
After finishing the ASEAN event, the team will prepare to play in a qualifying round, in Vientiane, for an Asian level tournament this year.
The JPFA is also looking for a professional karate-do trainer in Japan who can come to Laos and train the national team, Mr. Soulasith said.
The Lao football team is training hard to prepare for the first World cup qualifying match in Cambodia on June 27 and will face the Cambodia team again in the second qualifying round in Vientiane on July 3.
Kaz Phonesak Patafta, (born 25 October 1988 in Canberra) is an Australian football (soccer) attacking midfielder who currently plays for the Newcastle Jets. He attended Radford College in Canberra and received a football scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in 2004. He is of Croatian and Laotian descent.
Lao National TV covered the story of Kaz
Until that date, he had been ignored by Australia's A-League squads but soon, two European giants, PSV Eindhoven (whose interest was due to the recommendation of then Australian national team manager, Guus Hiddink) and SL Benfica, expressed interest in signing him [1]. The Portuguese side won the race for the Australian youngster but his move overseas was initially blocked by Football Federation Australia because he was under the age of 18. He eventually joined Benfica's B-Squad in January 2006. His first game for the Benfica first team was against CF Estrela da Amadora in a pre-season game on 15 August 2006.
Kaz Interview
Patafta joined Australian A-League champions Melbourne Victory on loan for the 2007/08 season. He played his first game for Melbourne Victory in a pre-season match against Sydney FC, to which they lost 1-0. He has mostly made appearances off the bench in the 2007/08 A-League season, amid suggestions he is not physical enough, or even big enough for the league. His first goal in the A-League, a left foot shot from a tight angle, came in the round 20 encounter against Wellington Phoenix.
Watch his interview in World sport
In May 2008, Patafta secured a release from the remainder of his contract with Benfica with the assistance of the Australian Professional Footballers' Association. On 2 June 2008, Patafta signed a 1 year deal with the Newcastle Jets.[
International career Patafta gained attention when he captained the Australian Under-17 football team, the "Joeys", during the 2005 World Championships in Peru.[4]
"In a team where most of the players show good skills with the ball, Kaz Patafta has ensured his spot and has no replacement as a midfielder. A good reader of the game and the centre of command, this boy naturally became the captain of the Aussies".
Patafta was included as part of Australia's "train-on" squad before the 2006 FIFA World Cup, along with fellow promising young Australian players Kristian Sarkies and Neil Kilkenny. Unlike these players, he was not given a senior cap in the team's three pre-World Cup friendly matches.
With little movement among the world's top teams in November's FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, little Laos stole the show by soaring up 28 places to 162nd in the global pecking order.
In doing so, the tiny South-East Asian nation became the second-best movers after Jamaica, who made an incredible 33-place leap to 83rd courtesy of their solitary-goal victories over Mexico and Honduras in qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. Laos, for their part, made the best climb in their history due to a streak of brilliant displays in qualifying for December's AFF Suzuki Cup, previously known as the Tiger Cup...more info>>
Although qualifying for a major international or continental competition remains merely a dream for Laos, they are by no means strangers on the regional stage, having figured in each of the past six editions of the Tiger Cup, starting in 1996. Under Russian boss Valeri Vdovin, they took October's qualifying campaign by storm to book their seventh consecutive appearance at the regional showpiece.
A narrow 3-2 loss to hosts Cambodia was not what Vdovin's young charges had hoped for in their opening qualifying game on 17 October, but they staged a major comeback four days later, pulling off a 2-1 win over the Philippines to set their campaign back on track. From there, they went on to dispatch Brunei 3-2 before rounding off with a 2-1 victory over Timor Leste, a result which earned them the first qualifying spot.
Laos' impressive run didn't go unnoticed by Cambodia coach Prak Sovannara, who was full of praise for Vdovin's dynamic outfit. "Laos are a very strong team, perhaps the best team in this tournament," said the hosts' manager.
One team, two tasks The qualifying success was a testament to the nation's recent development program, which has included the signing of Vdovin in July and the launching of a training camp based in Hong Anh Gia Lai, a hotbed of football in neighbouring Vietnam. And the Suzuki Cup qualifying achievement is even more impressive when one considers that Vdovin's troops in Cambodia were an U-23 side, who are currently preparing intensely for next year's South-East Asian (SEA) Games.
In a long run, the major task for Vdovin and his team is to break new ground at the 2009 SEA Games, of which they are hosts for the first time. But with their AFF Suzuki Cup campaign kicking off on 5 December in Thailand's Phuket, the Russian tactician is aware that they have some urgent expectations to live up to.
Laos have been drawn in Group B, which also features Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, strong teams who are all capable of mounting a serious challenge for the tournament. As if this were not daunting enough, Vdovin's major concern is that he will have to stick with the same U-23 side against opponents who will all field senior national teams.
"The boys have been working very hard, it's worth considering how much progress we have made," Vdovin said to the media prior to their first game against Malaysia this weekend.
Laos have rarely been considered more than whipping boys at this level, and they had a forgettable campaign in the last edition of the tournament two years ago, when they conceded 23 goals in three group games to crash out. Vdovin, however, has higher ambitions this time around.
"It is crucial that we tighten up the defense and sharpen the finishing," he explained. "We are a young team, so we need to concentrate on keeping our shape and minimizing mistakes, now that we are competing at a higher level."
