FC Phuket's Camara Ahmed suffers heart attack during game

UPDATE:

Camara Ahmed is in a coma and his life is hanging in the balance.


FC Phuket's 1-0 win over Chairat was marred by a heart attack to midfielder Camara Ahmed (right).

The Ivory Coast midfielder, who is on loan from Muangthong United, collapsed during the second half of the game and was resuscitated by the Chairat physio. He is currently in intensive care in Bangkok Hospital in Phuket.

Camara has been almost ever present in the heart of the FC Phuket midfield this season. the team won Division Two (Southern Section) comfortably and are on track to gain promotion to Division One through the play offs.

Thawin Butrasombat, who was signed from Chaiyapum United in May, scored the only goal of the game with a header after 52 minutes. Chairat were top of the group with two wins from their opening two games and this was a vital win for the Southern Sea Kirin, who had drawn both their play off matches to date.

According to manager Arjan Songssamsub the players were too worried about Camara's suspected heart attack to celebrate this important win,

"I am happy we won but I am more concerned about the health of Camara. he has never had any sort of problem like this in the past and this has come as a surprise. He is in hospital but we are not able to visit him yet," he said.

You can see Camara scoring a brilliant long range goal away to Satun Utd in August here: youtube

FC Phuket Play off Update

FC Phuket have begun the promotional play offs with two credible away draws but it is essential they take all three points from their first home game on Saturday.

After drawing o-o away to Samut Prakarn the previous week the Southern Sea Kirin were once again frustrated by Rayong FC who held them to a 0-0 draw on Sunday.

FC Phuket actually went a goal down in the 57^th minute but teenage striker Adisak Kraisorn pulled one back almost immediately to salvage a point. Ever since the start of the season FC Phuket have struggled on their travels. The mission in the promotional play offs is clearly to avoid defeat away from home and defeat all comers at Surakul Stadium, or ‘Fortress Surakul’ as it is rapidly becoming known.

The fixture list has not been kind with the two away games followed by the visit of high flying Chainat, the only team in the play off group to have taken maximum points from their opening two games.

Manager Arjan Songsamssub feels that the team are improving but acknowledges that toppling table topping Chainat this Saturday will be a tough task,

“The second game with Rayong was better than the first game at Samut Prakarn, but the next game will be a real challenge as we are playing the group leader. We will do our best and hope to get a good result,” he said.

While failure to defeat Chainat would not necessarily prove fatal for FC Phuket’s promotional prospects it would be a major blow for Songsamssub’s side who need to finish in the top two of the group in order to gain a spot in Division One next season.

With only two rounds of matches played Loei City are already looking like the group’s whipping boys after suffering defeat at the hands of both Rayong and Chainat. Bangkok are the only other side to have lost a game

Chainat, who finished second to Chang Mai in Division Two (Northern Section) appear set to take one of the top two places, while Loei City look destined to spend another season in Division Two (North East Section) despite having won that league for two successive seasons.

It will probably come down to a battle between Rayong, Saumut Prakarn, Bangkok and FC Phuket for the second promotional spot. Rayong are currently in pole position in second place but their sole victory came against Loei City.

Every meeting between these four teams so far has ended in a draw making it very difficult to establish who will provide the biggest threat to FC Phuket’s aspirations of playing Division One football next season.

A win against Chainat would give the team a lot of momentum going into another tough looking away fixture away to Division Two (Bangkok Section) winners Bangkok FC. After that FC Phuket have a couple of eminently winnable back to back fixtures against Loei City but it is essential that the Southern Sea Kirin start winning games sooner rather than later.

FC Phuket’s match against Chairat is scheduled to take place at Surakul Stadium on Saturday October 30^th. Kick off 6pm.

Thanks to Thai League Football for table

Results:

17 October Bangkok FC 1-4 Chainat, Samut Prakhan 0-0 FC Phuket, Loei City 1-4 Rayong

24 October Samut Prakhan 2-2 Bangkok FC, Chainat 4-0 Loei City, Rayong 1-1 FC Phuket

FC Phuket Fixtures

NOVEMBER 6: @ Bangkok FC, 4pm

NOVEMBER 13: Loei City @ FC Phuket, 6pm

NOVEMBER 21: @ Loei City, 4pm

NOVEMBER 27: Bangkok FC @ FC Phuket, 6pm

DECEMBER 4: @ Chainat FC, 4pm

DECEMBER 12: Rayong FC @ FC Phuket, 4pm

DECEMBER 19: Samut Prakarn FC @ FC Phuket, 4pm

FC Phuket begin playoffs with two draws

FC Phuket have drawn their opening two games in their play off group.

They currently have two points from fixtures away to Samut Prakarn and Rayong.

FC Phuket playoff preview

The five fixtures which will decide FC Phuket’s promotional fate have been announced. Despite winning Division Two (Southern Section) comfortably the team still need to qualify from a play off group in order to secure a place in Division One.

FC Phuket have been drawn in the same group as Samut Prakan, Rayong, Chai Nat, Rajvithee and Loei City. The top two teams will secure a coveted spot in the second tier of Thai football.

The season, which began with a 0-0 draw at home to Pattalung in February, is not set to finish until December 19^th by which time FC Phuket will have played an incredible 11 months of football.

Fortunately most of Arjan Songsamssub’s men have had a chance to recover as the play offs have been delayed due to the AFC under 19 Championships. Teenagers Adisak Kraisorn, Chakrit Rawanprakorn and Sarach Yooyen have all been involved in the international action while the rest of the team have been training together in Bangkok in preparation for the play offs.

The fixture list has not been particularly kind to FC Phuket who start off with two away games. While their form at Surakul Stadium has been imperious the Southern Sea Kirin have sometimes struggled away from home. The opening match is away to Samut Prakarn who finished second in the Central & Eastern league.

The second match, a week later, is also away. This time FC Phuket travel to Rayong who finished third in the Central & Eastern league, a point behind Samut Prakarn. It will be essential that FC Phuket can get some points on the board before their first home game against Chai Nat who finished second in the Northern League.

The other two teams in the group, Loei City and Bangkok FC, could provide the stiffest tests for FC Phuket. Both won their respective divisions and will feel they are more than capable of finishing in the top two in the play off group. FC Phuket travel to Bangkok FC and then have back to back games with Loei City immediately before the home game against Bangkok FC.

These four matches are likely to go a long way towards deciding who wins this group. The good news for FC Phuket is that they finish with two home games, against Rayong and Samut Prakan. If the side are still in contention at this stage they will feel confident of taking maximum points from the final two matches at what is rapidly becoming referred to as ‘Fortress Surakul’.

After all the work which has gone into the radically improved side, both on and off the pitch, it would be a major disappointment if FC Phuket missed out on promotion. They won their division by an incredible 14 points and are clearly far too good for the third tier of Thai football. However that will count for nothing if FC Phuket are unable to prosper in the end of season play offs.

Can FC Phuket claim their rightful place in Division One or will Arjan Songsamssub’s side fall at the final hurdle? It has been an incredible season so far for FC Phuket but now it all comes down to these ten matches.

Sunday Oct. 17 Samut Prakan 4pm away
Sunday Oct. 24 Rayong 6pm away
Saturday Oct. 30 Chai Nat 6pm home
Saturday Nov. 6 Bangkok FC 4pm away
Saturday Nov. 13 Loei City 6pm home Sunday Nov. 21 visit Loei city 4pm Saturday Nov. 27 home Bangkok FC 6pm Saturday Dec. 4 away Chai Nat 4pm Saturday Dec. 12 home Rayong 6pm Sunday Dec. 19 home Samut Prakan 6pm

(kick off times subject to change, check local press for details)