Borey thrilled with treble

25-Oct-2010

VIENTIANE: Khim Borey lauded his teammates after netting a hat-trick on Sunday to lift Cambodia to a 4-2 win over Timor Leste which kept them in contention in the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 qualifying competition.

Borey struck three times in 14 minutes late in the first half at the National Sports Complex in Vientiane as the Cambodians recovered from the shock of conceding an early goal to Chiquito Do Carmo.

Substitute Nuth Sinoun made it 4-1 in the second half before Anggissun netted a late consolation for the Timorese.

Said Borey, a 21-year-old midfielder from Cambodian side Army FC: "I am delighted that I was able to score a hat-trick for my country tonight. I owe a big thank you to my teammates because I could not have managed this feat without them."

It is not the first time that the Borey has been on target in the AFF Suzuki Cup. Two years ago, he bagged three in the qualifying round and also found the net against Myanmar during the group stage.

"It is my second time in the Suzuki Cup and I feel that I have learnt a lot from my first experience in 2008 when I scored against Laos, Timor Leste and Brunei," he said.

Despite the win, Cambodia must still beat Philippines in their final qualifier on Tuesday to progress. But Borey does not doubt his side's chances.

"I am confident that we can win our next match against the Philippines. And I want to score again!" Borey added.

Laos coach Lee Tae-hoon praised his side's battling qualities after the comeback win.

"We won the game because of our hard effort and good teamwork," the South Korean said.

"I feel that Timor Leste have improved as a team so it was a good result for us although we could have taken our chances a bit better today."

The loss was Timor Leste's 13th in 14 AFF Suzuki Cup matches and ended their hopes of reaching the group stage of this year's tournament.

But coach Pedro Correia De Almeida was pleased with the improvement shown by his side after their dismal 0-5 loss to Philippines in their opening match.

"I am very happy with my team's performance tonight. It was a lot better than in our first game against Philippines," said the Timor Leste coach, who made a number of alterations to his starting line-up.

"We changed six players from our first game because we wanted to play with a different system and a more attacking style.

"But our main weakness today was our defending."