C-League round-up

After the Phnom Penh Crown game on Saturday I headed off to the provinces so missed the remaining Metfone C-League matches at the weekend. National Police's 1-1 draw with Crown allowed NagaCorp to catch them up on Sunday afternoon and Naga now lead the league table on goal difference of +4. They came out on top, winning 3-0 against the Rubbermen of Boeung Ket who wilted under goals from Choun Chum (2) and Teab Vathanak. That leaves Chum at the top of the scorers chart with 13 goals. The Army and Chhlam Samuth played out a see-saw 3-3 draw with George Bisan netting twice and Sunday Ayodele scoring for the Navy team, with Army responding through Phlong Chanthou, Khek Khemarin and Pov Phearith. The 2nd match on Saturday went the way of Preah Khan, who scored all six goals in the 2nd half against 10-man Western Uni, after Maxwell Woko was dismissed before half-time. PKR shared the goals around with Tum Saray, Sok Chanraksmey, David Njoku, two from Khuon Laboravy and a last minute effort from Olawale Bologun. The midweek action this Wednesday sees the Cambodian U-22's meet their Philippines counterparts in a friendly game at Olympic Stadium at 4.30pm. Next weekend's C-League matches: Saturday - Kirivong v Army; Chhlam Samuth v Preah Khan: Sunday - Boeung Ket v Nat Police; PPCFC v Western Uni.

I hear that the Cambodian Football Federation and their friends from Metfone officially penned their continued sponsorship deal today, worth US$1.5million to the FFC over the next three years, starting in 2013. Metfone, a Vietnamese telecoms giant, have sponsored the Cambodian Premier League for the last three years to the tune of the same amount. I'm still waiting to hear details of the Federation's inclusive 5-10 year development plan for Cambodian football incorporating grassroots and all levels up to the national team. Perhaps they can spend a slice of the Metfone money on getting this completed and shipped out to all interested parties, so we know what direction Cambodian football is heading in the future. That would be a start wouldn't it.