Lao footballers train at the National Stadium in Vientiane.   --Photo Lao Football Federation

Lao squad to play in int’l friendlies in run up to SEA Games

Lao footballers will put their skills to the test in friendly international matches to be held in Vientiane this month before they head off to the 31st South-East Asian (SEA) Games, which take place in Vietnam from May 12-23.
The Lao Football Federation has invited teams from Mongolia and Brunei to compete against the |Lao national team in matches to be played at the National Stadium in Vientiane.
The first match on March 23 will see Laos take on Mongolia, followed by a match up against Brunei on March 27.
The Lao squad comprises experienced U-23 players, while Billy Ketkeophomphone will return to add his years of professional play to bolster the team’s medal winning chances.
Billy began his career with Racing Paris before joining France’s elite football academy Clairefontaine in 2006.
He was born in France while his parents are both Lao in origin, with his mother coming from Vientiane and his father from Savannakhet.
After one year, he left Clairefontaine to sign for RC Strasbourg. In the summer of 2008, he was promoted to the first team and made his professional debut against SC Bastia in December 2009.
In May 2011, he signed a five-year contract with Swiss Super League side FC Sion.
Billy returned to France to sign a four-year deal with Ligue 2 side Tours FC for 800,000 Euros, where he played 101 games and scored 21 goals.
In 2015, Ketkeophomphone signed with promoted side Angers SCO. He was the first footballer of Southeast Asian descent to have played in Ligue 1 and the first SEA footballer to score goals and assist in one of the Top 5 European football leagues.
He played 38 Ligue 1 games that season, scoring 6 goals and 7 assists, becoming one of the shooting stars of the French top tier.
In his second season, he sustained a severe knee injury, restricting him to only five games, but he still scored a goal. In 2018, Ketkeophomphone joined Ligue 2 side AJ Auxerre, a club with a rich history, and is currently under contract to USL Dunkerque.
The rest of the Lao squad have had recent experience of international competition at the AFF Under-23 Championship in Cambodia, which took place last month.
They also competed at the AFF Suzuki Cup 2020, which took place in Singapore in December.
The national team is currently trained by Mr Michael Weiss from Germany.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update March 16, 2022)