Sports / Soccer |
England soccer great Bobby Charlton visits Cambodia on land mine mission(AP)Updated: 2007-07-25 08:18 England soccer great Bobby Charlton arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday as part of a mission to raise awareness for the impoverished Southeast Asian nation's continuing land mine problem. "We are going to try to teach young people how to recognize the dangerous mines that are still around," said Charlton, who is in Cambodia as a supporter of charity Spirit of Soccer, which helps children in land mine affected areas of the world through the development of soccer. An estimated 4-6 million mines and other pieces of unexploded ordinance remain buried in Cambodia after more than three decades of armed conflict. Charlton will to tour land mine areas in Battambang province, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of the capital Phnom Penh, said Khek Ravy, vice president of Football Federation of Cambodia. Spirit of Soccer operates one of its two soccer coaching projects in Cambodia, the other is in Bosnia. On Thursday, Charlton _ who joined Manchester United when he was 17 _ will meet with young Cambodian soccer players to discuss some techniques with them. Charlton, 70, is one of soccer's best known identities. He was a member of England's 1966 World Cup winning team, the same year he was named European Footballer of the Year. The Manchester United director said Cambodia should promote its soccer to as high a level as many of its regional neighbors. "It's about time," he said. "Everyone's waiting for Cambodia. Vietnam, China, everywhere else is very happy playing football." World governing body FIFA ranks Cambodia's national team at 169 out of 208. Charlton visited Spirit of Soccer's Bosnian program in 2005.
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