Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng FC have announced contract extensions for captain and defender Soeuy Visal, as well as midfielder Chou Sinti.
The fresh extension signings comes as the team prepares to fight for the top spot in the Cambodian Premier League (CPL) against rising stars Angkor Tiger FC this Saturday.
The club made the announcement on Wednesday evening, a somewhat unusual date, as the CPL kicked off a week ago.
According to the CPL competition committee’s 11-club player registration list for the season, both Visal and Sinti were registered by Svay Rieng before the season started, and bothe have been playing and training.
During the August 10 season 3-0 winning opener against NagaWorld, Visal started in the first 11 and wore the captain’s armband, while Sinti was brought on in the second half. This shows that both remain key players for the club.
The squad are currently readying themselves for their second match of the season — an away game against Angkor Tiger at the Aki Hirokato Stadium at 6pm this Saturday. The match will decide the league’s top spot. Angkor Tiger currently lead on goal difference, thanks to their 6–3 victory over MOI Kampong Dewa last Sunday, while Svay Rieng sit second with the same 3 points.
Head coach Matthew McConkey began player recovery sessions on Monday and has been working to improve on the weaknesses he believed were revealed in their match against NagaWorld.
McConkey noted that Angkor Tiger has undergone significant squad changes, especially with the arrival of six high-quality foreign players. The club also boasts Ivory Coast-born naturalised Cambodian player Coulibaly Abdel Kader — similar to Svay Rieng, who also has six foreign players, including naturalised Japanese player Yudai Ogawa.
In their opening 6–3 win over MOI Kampong Dewa, Angkor Tiger’s goals came from Japanese players Masutani Takara and Kurita Mark Adjei, Dutch midfielder Mijland Guytho Marcus Renewick and Brazilian striker Gomes Hyppolito Junior Eduardo.
They are being marshalled by new Japanese coach Yasunaga Sotaro, who focuses heavily on a high press, attacking style, in the hopes of pushing the Tigers to the top this season.
“The next match will be very exciting because we know Angkor Tiger has changed several players and brought in a new coach that we haven’t studied much yet. This means we will need to stay fully focused for the match,” noted McConkey.
