Shoe-horning into 3 months

Sabay have today announced that the Metfone C-League, which was postponed by the FFC until 1 July, will now cram all of its games into a 15-week window between 1 July and 11 October. With the re-introduction of the dreaded play-offs (they used the more genuine first past the post last season), that means all 22 league games for each club will be shoe-horned into twelve weeks of competition (necessitating both weekend and midweek matches for all, every week) and the play-offs will be held in a 3-week period to round it all off. There will be home & away for some clubs, the others without their own stadiums, will play all their matches on the new artificial surface at the Olympic Stadium. The 12-team league is being continued with CMAC likely to fill the slot vacated by Albirex's closure. The reason for this ultra-short 3-month season is that the Federation wish to hold some end of year tournaments, according to Sabay. Oh, and another spanner in the works is the World Cup. During this shortest-ever season on record, will be 3 World Cup matches; in early September Cambodia will play Japan and Syria and immediately after the play-off final, they meet Singapore. So there will be a club-v-country conundrum if top players are taken away from their clubs for training camps and forced to miss league matches. And just to add another spanner, the AFC Cup qualifiers will be held in August and Cambodia will have 1 team in that. With such a schedule, that won't allow any player time to recover from injuries or fatigue. A punishing program in anyone's book. On the bright side, for the fans there will be an abundance of football over the next few months, with many of the games being televised too.

No change in the MCL

The Metfone C-League play-offs have been and gone, with the composition of the top division unchanged. The two teams in the 2014 relegation places, Kirivong and Albirex Niigata, will return to the fold after succeeding in the 3-team play-off battle at the FFC's Tonle Bati HQ last week. They were supposed to face the best teams from the Division 1A qualifiers, Sihanoukville and CMAC, but the seaside team pulled out leaving the three-teams to battle it out. Albirex made sure of their place with a 2-0 win over CMAC, after a 1-1 draw with Kirivong in the opening tie. A goal-less draw for Kirivong with CMAC, also saw the Takeo-based team return to the top flight too, so effectively no change.

The Olympic Stadium pitch is now being renovated, courtesy of a $500,000 grant from FIFA and an artificial surface will be laid between now and May. The likelihood is that the start of the C-League in 2015, scheduled for late March, will be played at other stadiums, such as the Army Stadium and the new RSN Stadium, with the Olympic pitch not likely to be ready. The Hun Sen Cup will begin in early January with qualifying matches in the provinces and amongst the Phnom Penh qualifiers, before the top eight teams in last season's C-League are invited to join the qualifying teams in the main competition. The teams in the Phnom Penh preliminary round are Army, Western Uni, Civil Aviation and Chbar Ampov (Creek Victory Sport), Kirivong, Albirex, Tuol Kork (Svay Rieng B) and Chroy Changvar. Games will begin on 8 January with three capital teams joining the province qualifiers in the next round.

The race is on

Dzarma Bata, knocking in the goals for Svay Rieng

The race for the Golden Boot award - the top scorer - in the Cambodian League just got much more intense as Svay Rieng's hotshot striker Dzarma Bata landed a five-goal haul against a sorry Kirivong team yesterday in a 9-0 thrashing to take him one goal ahead of Phnom Penh Crown netbuster George Bisan. Both strikers are Nigerian and Bisan has been knocking the goals in for the last three seasons in Cambodia with three different clubs, while Bata is a relative newcomer, only arriving in February. As Crown have forged ahead in the race to land the Championship title, Bisan has been instrumental in their success with his 19 goals. Svay Rieng, last year's champions, had a poor start to the season and were quickly knocked out of the AFC President's Cup and Singapore Cup but Bata hasn't let that stop him from regularly finding the back of the net and that five-goal blast against Kirivong has put him on 20 goals* for the season with a few hat-tricks thrown in for good measure. The tall 21-year-old was playing with Fico Tay Ninh in the Vietnam League 2 before crossing the border. Born in Kaduna, Nigeria, he went through the well-known Pepsi Academy system and tried out for the Nigerian U-17 and U-20 teams, including a stint in France, before joining Tay Ninh. Crown and Svay Rieng meet a week on Saturday, so the two hotshots will come face to face with each other. In the last meeting between the two sides, Bata netted a hat-trick inside the first-half  and Bisan didn't register on the scoresheet. It promises to be an exciting end to the season as far as the race for the Golden Boot is concerned.
* There is no official confirmation of the goals tally from the Football Federation.

Army spring a surprise

Metfone C-League Round-up.
The Army sprung a big surprise in yesterday's Metfone C-League game against champions Svay Rieng at their home stadium, winning 3-1 and registering their first win of the season. Soksana and Vannak gave them an early lead and Chhoeun added another late on. Dzarma headed in Svay Rieng's consolation. In the other game at the same venue, AEU drew 1-1 with Kirivong. Following the big match at the Olympic Stadium, where Boeung Ket beat Phnom Penh Crown 3-1, Western Uni went down 2-0 to BBU, who recovered after a couple of disastrous results to win the clash of the university teams. Sunday afternoon saw NagaCorp take on Albirex Niigata and two goals from Barry Lelouma at either end of the game sealed the points in Naga's favour, with a 2-0 scoreline. Albirex showed some nice touches but no penetration. In a tight game under the lights, a single goal and a screamer from Suong Virak from thirty yards on the hour settled it for TriAsia against National Police. Crown remain in first place in the league table on goal difference from Naga, TriAsia and Police, with five games played.

Phnom Penh Crown have a Japanese double-header of friendly matches this Saturday (18 Jan). Both games will be played back-to-back at RSN Stadium in Tuol Kork. At 1.45pm Crown will meet Albirex Niigata, the new Japan-funded team in the MCL, who already have teams competing in their homeland and in Singapore. They have been putting together a team of young Khmer players and have this week added a couple of Japanese players, one as player-coach, 21-year old defender Tatsuya Sase, who was previously with Albirex in Singapore. They expect to sign 4 Japanese players in total. Then at 3.45pm Crown take on  newboys TriAsia PP for the first time, also with Japanese cash behind them and a host of former Crown players in their ranks, namely Dani Kouch, Thul Sothearith, Vi Lika, Leng Narin, Friday Nwakuna and Suong Virak. We are also scheduled meet TriAsia PP in the Hun Sen Cup kick-off on Wed 29 Jan. Also in town this weekend are Tampines Rovers from the Singapore League and they will play two matches, against Svay Rieng on Friday and then NagaWorld, sorry, Corp, on Sunday in the imaginatively-titled NagaWorld Cup. Naga have just signed a couple of South Koreans and a Japanese player ahead of hostilities.


Crown have announced their jersey numbers for the new C-League season that will begin on Sat 25 Jan. The players/numbers are as follows:
Sou Yaty - 1
Sen Sarak - 2
Thourng Da - 3
Liam Hutchinson - 4
Khim Borey - 7
Ouk Sothy - 8
Bin Thierry - 9
Kouch Sokumpheak - 10
Neou Sosela - 11
Chea Dara - 12
Um Tola - 13
Touch Sokheng - 14
Long Boran - 15
Sos Suhana - 17
Kok Boris - 18
Ly Morslim - 21
Yok Ary - 22
Leng Makara - 23
Hong Pheng - 25
Ngoy Srin - 26
Odion Obadin - 30
Keo Soksela - 32
Mak Phearun - 33
Chhom Pisa - 39
George Bisan - 40
In Sodavid - 41
Sraing Titchhy - 42
Seut Baraing - 43
Orn Chanpolin - 44.

For the Hun Sen Cup, the following players will wear different numbers:
Mak Phearun - 6
Orn Chanpolin - 16
In Sodavid - 19
Sraing Titchhy - 20
Chhom Pisa - 27
Seut Baraing - 28
Keo Soksela - 29.

Now back on an old hobby-horse of mine, the lack of a fixture list for the Metfone C-League that is due to begin in 9 days time. Yes, a mere 9 days away and still no fixture list released to the press or published. Goodness knows how teams are supposed to prepare properly without even knowing who they are going to face. Maybe the FFC think teams get out of bed on the Saturday morning and decide then how they will counter their opponents that day. Maybe in their day, that's what they did. But these days, teams in the C-League are much more professional, working on set-pieces, formations and tactics in the week leading up to the match and watching video of their opposition. Not something the FFC seem to be remotely on-board with. I know who we are going to play on the opening day as it was leaked but the clubs, players and fans deserve better from the people in charge - instead of being treated with contempt.

Play-off action

The play-offs to decide the two places in next season's Metfone C-League kicked-off on Saturday afternoon at Olympic Stadium. The league's bottom two clubs from last term, AEU and Senate will play a round-robin competition against the two teams who progressed through the Division1A tournament. TriAsia and Takeo (aka Angkor United). The match-up between AEU and Senate opened the series of games and as expected AEU were a bit too strong for Senate, winning 2-0. Senate even had their keeper dismissed for a lunging tackle fifteen minutes into the 2nd half so the defeat came as no surprise. In the second game, the favourites TriAsia meade heavy weather of it against Angkor United despite an early lead through Sok Chanraksmey, their recent arrival from Svay Rieng. A disallowed goal for Angkor was tough on the team with Kingsley Njoku and In Vichheka in their ranks. Then an unexplained incident blighted Angkor's chances in the match when one of their players limped off and they played with ten men for nearly twenty minutes. There was no obvious reason for it. In that time TriAsia scored a second goal just before the break. The 2nd half began with Angkor still down to ten men, before La Sokri (73) was allowed on, only to be removed again by the match officials, with the suggestion being the number on his jersey wasn't clear. What was clear is that the actions of the officials took its toll on Angkor and as he reappeared, TriAsia netted a third and the game was all over. Angkor effectively rolled over and allowed TriAsia to total seven goals without reply. Chanraksmey netted a hat-trick including a well-executed bicycle kick. The coffee-shop backed club included former PPCFC players Vi Lika and Kouch Dani, two recent Japanese arrivals and Friday Nwakuna. The play-offs continue on Monday and Wednesday of next week.

Federation make sweeping changes

It's been a bit quiet on the football front in recent days, so it's good to come back to the blog with some pretty earth-shattering news. For lovers of Cambodian football that is. Okay, so earth-shattering may be a little too much but for me personally, it feels like someone has at last seen the light and unscrewed their head from the dark place that it's been resting for the last couple of years. The Super 4 play-offs in the Metfone Cambodian League have been abolished, ahead of the upcoming 2014 season. In its place will be a straight, first past the post league competition, that reverts Cambodian football back to real football and away from the mickey mouse stuff that has decided the championship in recent times. It's the best news for all traditionalists and football purists like myself. Thumbs up to the football federation. I may be their biggest critic but credit where it's due. The news was announced in a club manager's meeting earlier today, alongwith some other very interesting snippets.

The next bombshell from the federation, is that the ten-club league championship will be extended to 11 clubs when it begins again in January. But wait for it...the newcomers will be from Japan, in the shape of Albirex Niigata FC. What, how, why, I hear you cry! The federation have been cuddling up to the Japanese FA in recent months and this is the brand new baby that has been delivered from that close union. No need to qualify or any such nonsense, a free pass straight into the MCL. Albirex Niigata already operate two teams, their main act is in the J-League Division 1 but they also have a team, doing very well I might add, in the Singapore League as well. This will be a further extension of the AN franchise. The federation are hoping this will add a real buzz to the C-League, improve spectator interest, with the new club playing Japanese players, bringing a new style of football playing, coaching and management to Cambodian football and effectively giving the league a veritable kick up the arse. It's a bold move that has paid off in Singapore and the federation hope it will have the same effect here. We shall see, but if you don't try, you don't know.

As if those two announcements weren't enough, there is more. The federation have confirmed they want to start home and away fixtures from January, though they appreciate this will be limited because of the timeframe to put this into place. But they are keen for clubs to work towards this goal and keen to get it off the ground. It's known that PPCFC, Boeung Ket and Svay Rieng are taking measures to follow the federation's lead, whilst the Army already have their own stadium. With the play-offs abolished, the federation want to introduce an end of season cup competition in its place. The FFC Cup will likely involve the top four finishers in the championship race playing-off for this new cup to add a bit of spice to the end of the campaign, as well as a couple of extra matches. The teams below haven't been forgotten either and they will play-off for the FFC Challenge Cup under the same format. Last but not least, the season's calendar will change after the 2014 season comes to an end in July. Next year, the C-League will begin again soon after, in October (2014) and run through til May, with the Hun Sen Cup acting as a mid-season competition in December-January time. The reason for this change has yet to be explained but avoiding the heavy rains might be the prompt they needed. So there you have it, the federation have made some sweeping changes to the Metfone C-League that is looming large on the horizon and all in all, they look like an interesting mix.

Rithy on his bike

Sok Rithy, pictured at national team training in 2008

NagaCorp have pulled off a bit of a coup by securing the services of rock-solid central defender Sok Rithy from last season's champions Svay Rieng before the Metfone C-League teams begin to reassemble for the start of their pre-season training. Rithy has been a mainstay of the Svay Rieng (previously known as Preah Khan Reach) and Cambodia teams, at various age levels, for the last few years (I recall him making his full debut in the Suzuki Cup in 2008) and winning the title with the military-police backed team last season would've been a highlight for him. His performances have made him one of the most consistent performers in the country for the past few years and despite offers to move, he remained at Svay Rieng. Nevertheless, he's now been tempted away to sign for the casino-backed club and will line-up alongside other national team defenders in the shape of Tieng Tiny, Om Thavrak and Chan Dara in the coming season. I did notice one anomaly though. His official birthdate on the AFF website as supplied by the Cambodian football federation is December 1990, which makes him 22 years old, but to be perfectly frank, he's been around for so long, that is clearly an error of some magnitude. Then I checked on the player's own Facebook page and he quotes his own birthdate as December 1986, which puts his age at 26 years old. A lot more feasible. Must've been a typing error from the FFC, right?  

Elroy Explodes

PPCFC line-up v Kirivong. Back Row LtoR: Obadin, Ha-Neul, Thierry, Boris, van der Hooft, Narin. Front: Seyha, Suhana, Seiha, Makara, Sokumpheak (capt)...click to enlarge

Now that is what I call setting down a marker on your debut, as Elroy van der Hooft bagged a hat-trick in Phnom Penh Crown's 3-1 Metfone C-League victory over Kirivong this afternoon. The Dutch striker with just a couple of training sessions under his belt and nursing a hamstring strain, announced himself in the best possible fashion and his team needed it, after getting pegged back to 1-1 and having another debutant, South Korean Lee Ha-Neul sent off just before the interval. Starting the match without his skipper Khim Borey as well as Hong Pheng and Ngoy Srin, coach Sam Schweingruber handed a first start to two of his recent signings and the captain's armband to Kouch Sokumpheak. And the first real action saw a piece of individual brilliance by one of those new faces, Elroy van der Hooft, open the scoring after ten minutes. Bin Thierry sent van der Hooft racing away on the right and with some deft footwork, he sidestepped two Kirivong defenders and coolly flicked the ball past keeper Kim Makara and inside the near post to send his teammates into raptures. The rainy season announced its early arrival with the start of a downpour that was to progressively get a lot worse and ruin the match as a footballing spectacle. On 24 minutes Kirivong got back into the game after battling work by David Njoku set up Ek Vannak and Crown keeper Samrith Seiha's fingertips could only help the ball over the line from his first-time shot. With the rain coming down in sheets, the match officials decided to carry on despite lightning flashes just outside the stadium. Anyone with a brain would've called the players off the pitch for safety reasons alone. Not referee Khuon Virak. Crown tried a few long range attempts through Sokumpheak, Odion Obadin and Thierry without much joy but found themselves with an uphill battle on their hands four minutes before the half-time break. Lee Ha-Neul had already been cautioned for a late challenge and referee Virak took an instant dislike to another of his lunging tackles on the soaking wet surface, flashing a straight red despite Savorn Ratanak Raksa quickly getting to his feet. It sent Crown into the dressing room with ten men and Kirivong rubbing their hands with glee. The usual 15-minute break was extended to 90 minutes as the rain continued to fall, covering the pitch in pools of water, until the officials decided it was okay to proceed. Anywhere else, the game would've been abandoned a long time before.

Crown started the 2nd half like a runaway train, after Seiha had dived bravely at the feet of Kirivong striker Ntim Spirit with just 18 seconds on the clock. Moments later, a Men Seyha throw-in was fired into the side-netting on the turn by van der Hooft. He was just warming up. Soon after he tried his luck from 40-yards, which Kim Makara gathered easily enough. Kirivong were unlucky to see Spirit's attempt bounce back into play off the foot of a post, but it was Crown who nosed in front, 11 minutes after the restart. Seyha found Sokumpheak and his threaded pass forward was taken in his stride by van der Hooft who cleverly fired a left-foot shot under Kim Makara to give his team the lead once more. Just four minutes later, van der Hooft and his teammates were celebrating again as the Flying Dutchman registered a debut hat-trick. Leng Makara sent Sos Suhana away on the right wing and his first-time center behind the defenders found van der Hooft steaming in to deliver the killer punch at the far post. He sank to his knees in jubilation as Crown took a 3-1 lead despite their inferior numbers. A minute later and Sokumpheak took a pass from Suhana into the box only to see Kim Makara push aside his stinging effort. A beautifully flighted Thierry free-kick was a whisker away from meeting van der Hooft's diving header as Crown pressed, though Akeem Bolaji will be disappointed his header didn't find the target at the other end. Makara rose high to head Thierry's cross inches past the far upright and then Thourng Da raced onto Makara's pass only to send his drive straight at the Kirivong keeper. With full-time fast approaching, Kirivong's Phan Bunlong was booked for a second time, for an elbow on Sokumpheak and was dismissed and despite five extra minutes, there was no way back for the Takeo-based outfit as Crown leapfrogged them into 4th place in the league standings. Certainly a debut to remember for Elroy van der Hooft, who was mobbed by Crown fans as he left the field, a new hero in their midst.
PPCFC line-up: Seiha, Boris, Seyha, Narin (Da 46), Obadin, Thierry, Suhana, Ha-Neul, Makara (Pisa 85), Sokumpheak, van der Hooft (Sothy 91). Subs not used: Ary, Ratana, Dara, Lika, Dary, Morslim, Kano, Phearun. Bookings: Ha-Neul (+ red card), Obadin, Thierry. MOTM: van der Hooft.

Déjà vu, again

Obviously, it almost goes without saying, that the Cambodian football federation have changed the Metfone C-League fixtures yet again. They realised that they needed to avoid playing during the King Father's cremation (essentially a month-long break from league action) and now that the AFC Challenge Cup matches in the Philippines have been moved back to 22-26 March, they have to work around that as well. So here is the latest version of Phnom Penh Crown's fixtures in Round 1 and Round 2 of the 2013 Metfone C-League. But don't hold your breath.

Round 1:
Sat 12 Jan v BBU @ Army Stadium 3pm
Sat 19 Jan v Nat Police @ Army Stadium 3pm
Sun 24 Feb v Naga @ Olympic 2pm
Sun 3 Mar v Senate @ Olympic 4pm
Sun 10 Mar v Army @ Olympic 2pm
Sat 16 Mar v Boeung Ket @ Olympic 2pm
Sat 30 Mar v Preah Khan @ Olympic 2pm
Sat 6 Apr v AEU @ Olympic 4pm
Sat 27 Apr v Kirivong @ Olympic 4pm

Round 2:
Sat 4 May v BBU @ Army Stadium 3pm
Sat 18 May v Nat Police @ Army Stadium 3pm
Sun 26 May v Naga @ Olympic 2pm
Sun 2 Jun v Senate @ Olympic 4pm
Sun 9 Jun v Army @ Olympic 2pm
Sat 15 Jun v Boeung Ket @ Olympic 2pm
Sat 22 Jun v Preah Khan @ Olympic 2pm
Sat 29 Jun v AEU @ Olympic 4pm
Sat 6 Jul v Kirivong @ Olympic 4pm
Note: The play-offs begin 13 July and the play-off final will be on 20 July.

All change, again

The fall-out from the football federation's late decision to enter the AFC Challenge Cup afterall - they initially said they were pulling out to concentrate on grassroots football and because they didn't have the money - is just about to be felt in domestic football circles. The appointment of Prak Sovannara as the head coach and his notice that fifty players were in line for what are effectively national team trials, have prompted the federation to muck about with the start of the Metfone C-League season. It was due to begin on 1 January with Phnom Penh Crown facing BBU, but that's been canned by the FFC and they've announced that it will not start until 12 January and after that, only at the weekends until the AFC Challenge Cup competition has been completed. In the next ten days the trials will take place and Sovannara will reduce his squad to a final thirty by the end of the year, when the national team will get together for a squad training session for four days. These squad sessions will then happen three days a week; Monday, Tuesday and Friday. Players will be released to train/play with their club teams on Wednesday and Thursday (the day set aside for Hun Sen Cup matches, which will continue unaffected) and at weekends (C-League matches). In effect, depriving the clubs of their best players for a substantial part of the next two months and giving club coaches a real headache in terms of suitable preparation and tactics before league and cup matches. And that's if the players return from national duty without injury. There was no consultation with the clubs as far as I know. It's simply a done deal. For Phnom Penh Crown, it will mean re-scheduling four C-League matches against BBU, National Police, Preah Khan and AEU.

Other news to come out today concerns the Cambodia national team. The plan is to play a friendly, maybe two, against the visiting Ulsan University team in the first week of January. All squad training sessions will be at either the Olympic Stadium or Crown's RSN Stadium, on the days I've listed above, until the squad enter a training camp from 17-24 Feb, either at Tonle Bati or abroad, playing a series of four or five practice matches. They will have another friendly on 25 Feb in Phnom Penh before departing for the AFC Challenge Cup qualifying group in Philippines on 27 Feb. They will then meet Turkmenistan on 2 Mar, Philippines on 4 Mar and Brunei on 6 Mar, hoping to gain one of the qualification places.

New faces in 2013

There will be two new teams in the Metfone C-League next season after their success in the Division A1 championships played in Pursat last week. Asia Europe University will replace fellow students from Western University who were relegated at the end of their first season, whilst the Senate Secretariat team, who beat AEU 1-0 in the A1 final, will take the place of Chhlam Samuth in the top flight in 2013. The students from Phnom Penh-based AEU will be chuffed after they finished third in the Division A1 play-offs last year and were pipped for a place by Western University and Boeung Ket. In this year's semi-finals of the championship, the Senate side beat Chhma Khmao Svay Rieng (aka the Preah Khan Reach U-19 team) 2-1, while AEU crashed Prek Pra 5-0. In the third place play-off, Chhma Khmao beat Prek Pra 3-0.

Taking issue

Keo Sokngorn receives his Best Player cheque

I find it increasingly difficult to agree with virtually every decision emanating from the football federation in Cambodia. The big one for me was the decision to reintroduce the play-off system to decide who would be the league champions. That simply stinks for a football traditionalist like me. Have your play-offs to decide minor relegation or promotion places or cup competitions but never to decide the destination of the country's championship title. It's wrong whichever way you look at it. That said, the FFC are also responsible for choosing the other end of season awards such as the season's best player. Last time around they bamboozled everyone, including the player himself, by choosing Chea Samnang from Preah Khan Reach. No-one saw that coming, as the officials completely overlooked a long list of players with far more pressing credentials. Blow me down, if they don't go and do the same again this season. You'd think that the captain of the title-winning team, Boeung Ket, might have a shout at the award, but again there have been players who've performed to a higher standard and with more consistency this campaign. The prize was picked up by Keo Sokngorn yesterday. The player had one of his best games too but over the course of the season, he has not shone, either for club and country, certainly not as much as he did when he picked up the same award two years ago. In his own team, Friday Nwakuna, who has looked twice the player he was in his previous spells in the C-League, and combative, shoot-on-sight Sumaila Momoh have been far more outstanding. For Naga, Chuon Chum changed his name and changed his game, and was in rampant form throughout the season, whilst two more Preah Khan youngsters, Moul Daravorn and Nen Sothearoth, have come on leaps and bounds this year. Injuries to two of the country's best players, Khuon Laboravy and Kouch Sokumpheak, have allowed others to shine in their absence such as Sos Suhana, Sokngorn's younger brother Keo Sokpheng and Ek Sopheap from Kirivong. There's no argument when it comes to Boeung Ket collecting the top scorer (Friday Nwakuna), best coach (Prak Vuthy) and best goalkeeper (Penh Bunchhay) awards but I've watched most of the C-League matches this season and must take issue with the FFC's choice of best player.
PS. I forgot that the FFC also awarded the best referee award to Thong Chankethya, another decision I completely disagree with. Chankethya is a referee I've written about many times, he's card happy and definitely doesn't follow the old adage that a good referee is one we don't see when we watch a match. He appears to love making decisions that impact on games and yesterday's dismissal of Sin Dalin was another case in point. If I took a poll amongst the C-League players as to which referees they least want to be in the middle; I reckon Chankethya will be right up there, alongside Khuon Virak and Yien Kivatanak.

Rubbermen clean up

Boeung Ket collect the Metfone C-League trophy

Everything fell into place for the Rubbermen from Kompong Cham today, with Boeung Ket claiming the top prize, the Metfone C-League championship, with a 3-1 play-off final win over the rightful champions, NagaCorp. They also collected the top goalscorer, coach, best player and goalkeeper awards in a virtual clean sweep of the end of season prizes in what is their first season in the top flight, while Naga collected the runners-up and fairplay cheques. Naga will feel rightly aggrieved that they weren't crowned champions after winning the 18-game domestic campaign but the federation had decided to reintroduce the Super 4 play-offs this season and that handed the advantage to Boeung Ket, who introduced their joker in the pack, Julius Oiboh for the final two deciding matches. The surprise move worked a treat, both Preah Khan and Naga were quaking in their boots at the sight of the Nigerian hitman and in today's final, it was all over bar the shouting even with Boeung Ket going down to ten-men after just 26 minutes. They were already two goals ahead, but the momentum was with them and with a strong defensive showing and Oiboh looking a danger every time he touched the ball, they ran out easy winners.
Boeung Ket had the luxury of leaving the C-League's top scorer Friday Nwakuna in the stands and instead selected Oiboh for the second game running, after the striker's arrival on loan from Thai club Rangsit for the play-off games had given the Rubbermen a massive confidence boost. Oiboh was the C-League's top scorer last year whilst with Naga but had no qualms about facing his former teammates in today's final. With early afternoon rain leaving the pitch wet underfoot, BK took the lead after 13 minutes. Naga keeper Phorn Ratana had raced out of his area to foul Oiboh and get himself a yellow card. Keo Sokngorn's inswinging free-kick took a wicked deflection off the top of Neang Chenla's head and gave his own keeper no chance. Four minutes later and Sokngorn capped a finely-balanced sprint into the box with a delicate chip over Ratana and Beoung Ket were well and truly in the driving seat. Referee Thong Chankethya, always keen to make his mark on a game, handed Naga a lifeline when he brandished a red card in the face of BK's Sin Dalin after a 50/50 sliding tackle which left San Narith clutching his shin. It was a harsh decision in anyone's book. A few minutes later and a dangerously high challenge by Naga's Tiet Chandarasokha on Sokngorn looked considerably worse, though the defender was merely cautioned. A crucial miss by Narith on the half-hour was Naga's best chance to grab a lifeline and with BK leading 2-nil at the interval, the writing was on the wall.
A minute into the second half and BK made certain of their play-off final success. Oiboh easily skated past Chenla and fired low and hard inside the near post to put his most recent employers three goals ahead and sink Naga's faint hopes. As heavy rain made conditions worse, it was Oiboh again who had the crowd on its feet when he left Chenla in his wake but squirmed his shot wide when he seemed destined to net another trademark solo goal. Boeung Ket's solid defensive backline thwarted Naga until two minutes into time added on when Chuon Chum poked home after good approach work by Prak Chanratana, and was promptly booked for pulling his shorts down. It was referee Chankethya's sixth booking of the afternoon to add to one red card. He quickly blew for full time and signalled the start of the Rubbermen's mud-coated pitchside celebrations. BK coach Prak Vuthy collected the coach of the season award while goalkeeper Peng Bunchhay picked up his 2nd successive keeper of the year prize and his third consecutive C-League winners medal. Keo Sokngorn was a surprise choice as player of the year, having collected the same award two years earlier, while his teammate Friday Nwakuna put any disappointment for being overlooked for the crucial play-off games behind him, by collecting the Golden Boot award with 20 goals. It capped a dramatic debut season C-League championship success for the provincial club.

Boeung Ket line-up. Back LtoR: Bunchhay, Dalin, Oiboh, Momoh, Ravy, Sokngorn. Front: Ohuruogu, Sokheng, Kumpheak, Vibol, Pancharong

Naga line-up. Back LtoR: Chum, Chenla, Sopanha, Chanratana, Lawal, Vathanak. Front: Nwafor, Chandarasokha, Ratana, Narith, Sothearith

Referee Thong Chankethya in typical tossing pose with captains Sokngorn (blue) and Vathanak

PKR grab 3rd

The 3rd and 4th place Metfone C-League Super 4 play-off was decided this afternoon at Olympic Stadium. Despite roadblocks by police keeping some of the fans away from the match, the players managed to get through the police cordon and Preah Khan Reach, even without the 3 players sent off at the weekend and sitting in the grandstand, grabbed the 3rd spot with a 4-2 victory over the National Police. It was a hat-trick from the under-utilised Joseph Olatubosun, his third coming in injury time, and another, from the penalty spot by David Njoku that clinched the win. Both goals for the Police came from who else, Nelson Oladiji, their top scorer. Saturday will see the championship decider between NagaCorp and Boeung Ket Rubber Field, kick-off 3.30pm at Olympic, while tomorrow, Phnom Penh Crown are due to meet the touring Khmer-Europe XI at Olympic, in a friendly encounter, also at 3.30pm.

Poor advertisement

NagaCorp progress to the championship final with a 3-1 win on penalties

As is often the case, when the first match is full of blood and thunder, the follow-up game is more of a damp squib, and so it proved in the second of the Metfone C-League Super 4 play-offs this afternoon. National Police were full of it after their recent win in the Asean police cup in Vietnam whilst NagaCorp had already won the domestic league competition but were forced into the play-offs, after the FFC re-introduced this abhorrent way of deciding the destination of the championship. Early on, Police's Nelson Oladiji had somehow construed to send his header wide of the target when it looked far easier to score and teammate Srey Udom had rashly blasted against the crossbar from six yards out. In terms of real goalmouth action that was about it until eight minutes into extra time when Teab Vathanak saw his drive pushed onto the upright by Police keeper Thong Chanreaksmey and away to safety. No goals after 120 minutes. It certainly didn't inspire two of the league's leading marksmen, Oladiji and Naga's Chuon Chum to any great heights. In truth it was a dire encounter and was no advertisement for Super 4 football in the slightest. However, as we had to have a winner, the match went into a penalty shoot-out. Naga's keeper Phorn Ratana, who could easily be mistaken for a ball-boy, gave his team the headstart they wanted by saving penalties from Nuth Sinoun and Ol Ravy, while Kop Isa and Om Thavrak netted for Naga. Srey Udom finally found the net for the Police but so did Teab Vathanak. It was left to Joel Omoraka to screw his spot-kick wide and that gave Naga the excuse they needed to celebrate progression to next Saturday's final, with a 3-1 success in the penalty competition. They will meet Boeung Ket in the final. The 3rd place play-off between PKR and Police will take place on Wednesday 12 September.

National Police's recent cup luck ran out in the penalty shoot-out

Oiboh inspires the Rubbermen

Julius Oiboh (center) scared Preah Khan to death

Controversy is never far from the surface in Cambodian football. And the Metfone C-League Super 4 play-off semi-finals day was no exception. Enter last season's C-League top scorer Julius Oiboh, who has been plying his trade with Bangkok Glass' 2nd team, Rangsit FC in Thailand all season, that is until this afternoon. Thrown into the fray by Boeung Ket, in their debut season in the C-League, much to the chagrin of the other three semi-final teams, Oiboh did exactly what Boeung Ket had hoped for, literally scared Preah Khan Reach to death and aided and abetted the Rubbermen into next Saturday's championship final. He scored two memorable goals in BK's 4-1 victory after extra time, and his mere presence on the field was enough to panic PKR into challenges that left referee Tuy Vichhika with little room to manoeuvre, flashing three red cards to the Military-Police team and effectively handing the tie to the newcomers from Kompong Cham. With Oiboh's border-crossing allowed by the FFC's obliging rules but leaving many with a sour taste in the mouth, Boeung Ket had the luxury of relegating their top scorer Friday Nwakuna to the grandstand, whilst PKR chose their 2nd-string keeper and left two national team players twiddling their thumbs on the bench.
It was Preah Khan who drew first blood on 20 minutes when a Tum Saray corner wasn't cleared and David Njoku was on hand to turn the ball over the line from close in. Within six minutes, BK and Oiboh had levelled. Vichhika generously awarded the Nigerian a free-kick 25 yards out and central and the marksman's aim was straight and true as he thumped the ball into the top corner of the net. The game wasn't exactly awash with chances and only really came alive on 69 minutes when PKR's Sok Rithy was booked for a second time in the space of less than a minute for an identical offence, pulling Oiboh back as he threatened to race away wide on the left flank. Referee Vichhika was left with no choice and the red card quickly followed the second yellow. With the tie bearing little fruit by way of excitement and heading into extra time, it was seven minutes into the ten added on by Vichhika that PKR suffered their second major blow. A rash challenge out wide by Busayo Adekunjo on Oiboh, his second of the game, saw the referee reach for his top pocket and pull out a second yellow and a red card, leaving PKR in dire straits and down to nine men in extra time.
Just to add another dash of controversy to the mix, Boeung Ket took the lead in the 8th minute of the first half of extra time. From a corner, Oiboh smashed the ball into the six yard box where it struck his own player Keo Sokpheng and rebounded out to Sumaila Momoh whose low drive found the corner of the net. That triggered an angry reaction from the PKR players who claimed a handball from Sokpheng, who had been stretchered off and replaced, but the match officials were having none of it and awarded the goal. Preah Khan were on the ropes and Boeung Ket took advantage. Twenty-one minutes into extra time and Oiboh had time and space to feed substitute Hong Makara and his chip nestled in the net. A minute later and Prak Mony Udom's dangerous tackle on, you've guessed it, Oiboh, saw Vichhika brandish a straight red card. By this time he was keeping his cards in his hands rather than replace them into his pocket. PKR's Nen Sothearoth struck an upright from a free-kick, but Boeung Ket were on a roll and the mercurial Oiboh rounded off proceedings in the final minute of extra time with another of his solo wonder goals. Weaving his way past four PKR defenders and goalkeeper, he poked the ball home with the supreme confidence of a man who had just put his team into their first-ever cup final. Preah Khan's worst nightmare had come true.

The Boeung Ket starting line-up could afford to leave out top scorer Friday Nwakuna and still win 4-1

Preah Khan Reach found Boeung Ket too hot to handle, losing 4-1

Referee Tuy Vichhika in happier times with the two captains. He hadn't shown any cards at this point.

League campaign ends

Sunday's opening Metfone C-League game pitted a very young and inexperienced Preah Khan Reach team, already safely in the play-offs, against a full strength Army line-up, who coasted to a 3-1 victory. Nob Tola gave the PKR boys a first-half lead but second-half strikes from Ung Dara, Chhim Chhoeurn and Pov Phearith saw the military men claim the spoils. The Metfone C-League now moves into its Super 4 play-off stage to decide the champions. Preah Khan will face Boeung Ket whilst Naga meet National Police on Sunday 9 September.

The Cambodian national team coach Hok Sochetra has made the first cut of five players from his initial 30-strong squad that has been training three times a week in preparation for the AFF Suzuki Cup in early October. They've been playing a series of friendly matches against the C-League club sides and are scheduled to meet Phnom Penh Crown at the Olympic Stadium this coming Saturday (25 Aug) at 2pm. The five to be culled from the training squad, who will go into training camp for the first two weeks of next month, followed by an overseas camp in Malaysia, are Sar Sophea (PKR), Tith Dina (Police), Sok Sovan (PPCFC), Ke Vannak (Army) and Prum Putsethy (BBU). Another five players will be released before the training camps begin.

Sva snatches it

PPCFC line-up: Back Row LtoR: S Pheng, Sovan, Dara, Obadin, H Pheng, Tiny. Front: Rady, Suhana, Chaya, Ary, Borey

Result: Phnom Penh Crown 1 NagaCorp 1
Chim 'Sva' Rathanak, one of the forgotten men of Cambodian football, came off the bench to claim a share of the spoils in today's final Metfone C-League game of the regular season, as Phnom Penh Crown snatched fifth place from the clutches of BBU with the final kick of the season. This 1-1 draw with the unofficial champions, NagaCorp, sealed fifth spot for Crown, with a better goal difference over the students, with both teams on 27 points from their 18 league games. But it wasn't good enough to get them into the Super 4 play-offs which will begin in a couple of weeks time. For a club like PPCFC that is used to winning championships, that's a massive disappointment to both the team and their admirers. With Samrith Seiha left on the bench, the goalkeeping spot went to Yok Ary and Chan Dara was recalled in place of Henry Asonibe in central midfield. Tieng Tiny and Sok Sovan returned after injury absences.
Crown announced their intentions against Naga - who finished top of the table after the 18-game domestic season but were denied the title by the reintroduction of the play-offs - when Khim Borey's 25-yard drive was palmed around the post by keeper Pich Rovinyothin on two minutes. A minute later, the same two players were at it again, with Borey's left-footer sticking in the keeper's gloves. Naga would've put their money on Chuon Chum opening his account after six minutes when put through by Teab Vathanak, but the usually-reliable goal-poacher scuffed his shot wide. Both Chan Chaya and Borey continued to pepper the Naga goal with long-range efforts, but it was teammate Hong Pheng who should've done better with a free header on 26 minutes, which he sent inches wide of the upright. After Sos Suhana tried his luck, unsuccessfully, from distance and Chum headed a near post corner kick wide, the first half remained in stalemate mode.
The second period began as eagerly as the first with Crown again looking bright and busy early on, as Hong Pheng's low drive foiled by the feet of Rovinyothin and Sok Pheng's foray in the box, undone by his own wayward blast from fifteen yards out. Thul Sothearith looked ill at ease as he scooped the ball over his own bar with Suhana soon heading straight at the keeper and other efforts by Sovan, Pheak Rady and Sok Pheng all going awry in the opening fifteen minutes. Substitutions disrupted the flow of the game until Naga's top scorer Chum profited for a wayward Chaya pass only to see his close range finish thwarted by a point blank save by Ary. On 74 minutes, Borey was floored by Om Thavrak and he picked himself up to curl the resulting free-kick inches wide of the upright. A minute later and Naga took the lead against the run of play. A short corner was fed to Ou Lyhorng and his straight as a dye drive from the edge of the box somehow avoided Ary's flailing punch and Naga celebrated. Within a minute Suhana fed Hong Pheng and his hooked shot looked to be heading for the net until it was deflected wide. Without creating anymore obvious scoring chances, Crown's hopes of a top 5 finish were receding until the fourth minute of time added on by referee Khuon Virak - who frustrated Crown throughout with his one-eyed decisions. Chhun Sovanna worked the ball out to Chim Rathanak, a rarely-used substitute this campaign, on the right side of the penalty box and his audacious lofted chip sailed inside the far post for a classy finish to an otherwise unremarkable season. It was only what Crown had deserved from the game and they can now salvage their pride with a strong showing in the upcoming AFC President's Cup final round in Tajikistan.
Crown head coach David Booth was upbeat at the final whistle."I felt we dictated a lot of the play today, we played better all round, we looked more solid and to be fair, they've scored a lot of goals and won a lot of games and are the champion team quite rightly. I thought there were some decent performances today, but 1 or 2 looked poor but most of the time we looked quite strong and up for the game. It was a decent game to finish on, we didn't deserve to lose even though I felt we were going to, until we scored out of the blue in the final minute. It was a nice moment when Sva scored, good for him. We now have a friendly against the national team next week, which is the only game before the President's Cup trip."
PPCFC line-up v Naga: Ary, Rady (Da 62), Sovan, Tiny, Obadin, Dara, Suhana, Chaya (Sovanna 77), Borey, H Pheng, S Pheng (Rathanak 69). Subs not used: Seiha, Vanthan, Lika, Seyha, Srin, Sophanal, Asonibe, Makara. Bookings: Tiny, Rady.

Naga denied

The final weekend of domestic football kicked-off today, well it would've been, if the federation hadn't decided on tagging on the ridiculous Super 4 play-offs to the end of the season to determine the Cambodian football champions. At the end of the 18-game season, NagaCorp came out on top, with still a game to play against Phnom Penh Crown tomorrow, but instead of getting their just rewards, they have to go into the Super 4 lottery to win another two matches in order to claim their prize. It's a crap way to decide a league championship. There's an argument to say that a play-off can decide the minor placings in a promotion and relegation situation, but to tack it onto the end of a domestic league season is not what football is about. It becomes an end of season lottery with in-form teams having the upper hand instead of rewarding the most consistent team throughout the whole campaign. I have never liked it, and never will. I also don't like the crap coverage given by the Phnom Penh Post to the final weekend of the league season. They gave a column inch to print the fixtures on Friday yet failed miserably to preview the games, instead preferring to cover the BPL, La Liga and the local basketball matches. They take a reactive approach to football reporting rather than seeking out newsworthy stories, concentrating far too much on chasing tennis titbits that less than a dozen people are interested in.

In today's Metfone C-League games the two relegated clubs both took a whipping which merely emphasized that they are not good enough to compete in the top division. BBU were first up, thrashing a weakened Western Uni team 7-1. Rim Bunhieng scored two identical headers and Pich Sina netted the first of his brace before the interval. Just after the hour Proum Yaneth scored a consolation penalty for the debut-season students before BBU's Japanese captain Dan Ito rounded off his cameo C-League career with a hat-trick, including two penalties. Ito is off to Bhutan soon to add another country to his CV as he attempts to make the Guinness Book of Records for playing professionally in as many Asian countries as possible. In the 2nd game, Boeung Ket walloped the other relegated club Chhlam Samuth 7-0. It was all one-way traffic as you might expect, with Friday Nwakuna's four goals taking him to the top of the Golden Boot scorer's chart with 20 goals. He can also lay claim to the miss of the season when he fired wide with an open goal at his mercy before the avalanche of goals began. Sin Dalin netted twice, the second a gorgeous curling free-kick with Chukwuma Ohuruogu also scoring. BK are already through to the Super 4 in their first season in the division.