Charity, home and away

In a spirit of giving, Phnom Penh Crown this week donated the monies from the sale of 30 football kits to the Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital, via a charity football match between fans of Real Madrid and Man United, and will on Saturday, donate all the match entry ticket monies, from their Academy game with Lao Toyota, to the local Happy Tree Orphanage, with 30 children joining the fun. Crown already has a thriving community engagement program involving schools and organisations as well as a series of good cause initiatives that they are very active in, from child malnutrition to HIV prevention campaigns. This is a football club that gives, and keeps giving. On top of that, the club is offering a series of prizes, thirty in all, to fans who buy tickets for their five Asia Champions Trophy matches. Entry is just 2,000 riel and there are chances to win playing kits, training kits, get to train with the Crown squad and other prizes. 

As predicted, maybe I should do this for a living, the two Metfone C-League teams came a cropper in their Singapore Cup matches this week. Both Svay Rieng and NagaCorp travelled to Singapore to meet two of the island's top teams and will return after taking a proper beating. Svay Rieng found it hard going against Albirex Niigata and the Japanese team won at a canter, 3-0. This evening, NagaCorp, who tried their luck by applying late to the competition organisers and got the nod, will probably regret bothering, taking a 5-0 thrashing by Home United firmly on the chin. Both teams have missed the domestic competition for two weekends and will now play catch-up on their MCL fixtures, with midweek games lined up for the next two weeks.

Weekend fare

No game for Phnom Penh Crown this weekend, as they prepare for their RHB Singapore Cup match in the city-state on Wednesday, when they take on champions Tampines Rovers in what looks to be a mouth-watering clash. Coming straight after their AFC President's Cup qualification, Crown will be looking to put up a better fist of it than last year's 4-0 defeat to the Singapore Armed Forces. Emmanuel Frimpong will not make the trip, though Crown will take along their four other foreign imports and decide on their line-up closer to kick-off. Chan Chaya is absent after the AFC confirmed he was still under their ban until the end of May, as it began on 1 December.
In the Metfone C-League this weekend, there's a match to look out for at 4.30pm on the Olympic Stadium pitch, when 2nd placed NagaCorp take on Boeung Ket, both clubs likely to be challenging for the title cum the end of the season. My prediction - a 2-2 draw. In the 2.30pm match, Preah Khan should coast to an easy win over Western Uni. On Sunday, a revitalised Kirivong take on BBU early doors, followed by the Army against Chhlam Samuth.
On Sunday morning at the RSN Stadium in Tuol Kork, the Cambodian U-14 national team squad take on the U-16s of Preah Khan Reach in an 8.30am practice match. The U-14s are led by PPCFC Academy coach Bouy Dary and are currently preparing for their trip to Malaysia for an AFC Festival of Football from 21 May until 3 June. Playing against stronger and physically tougher opponents is good preparation, especially as the national team are simply too good for teams of their own age group. The majority of the squad is made up of Phnom Penh Crown Academy players. They lost 2-1 to the same PKR team a couple of weeks ago.

One eye on Singapore

The goalscoring legend - Aleksandar Duric

I know that all eyes are on today's AFC President's Cup final day of Group B qualifying matches, with Phnom Penh Crown taking on the leaders on goal difference, Dordoi Bishkek from Kyrgyzstan at 4.30pm. Fingers crossed we don't have a torrential downpour again to spoil the enjoyment of what promises to be a big crowd. The cup competitions don't stop for Crown after today's game. On Monday, the team travel to Singapore to take part in the RHB Singapore Cup, where they meet one of Singapore's best clubs, Tampines Rovers on Wednesday 16th May at 7.45pm at the Clementi Stadium. Tampines are the reigning Singapore League champions and have won the cup on three previous occasions. In Aleksandar Duric they have one of the legends of Asian football, who has scored goals for fun wherever he's played. Now 41, he arrived in the Singapore League in 1999 and has performed with distinction for five different clubs scoring well over 300 goals. Born in Bosnia, he also played and scored for clubs in Serbia, Sweden, Hungary, China and Australia. This season Tampines are currently in fifth place, are involved in the AFC Cup and include players from France, Croatia and Macedonia in their line-up.
As for this season's RHB-sponsored Singapore Cup, it will be its 15th edition, with preliminary round matches being one game affairs whilst subsequent rounds are two legs. This season, five foreign teams have been invited to participate alongside eleven Singapore League sides. All matches begin at 7.45pm.

• 14 May: Singapore Armed Forces v Balestier Khalsa
• 15 May: Albirex Niigata v Yotha (Laos) ** Postponed until 26 May **
• 16 May: Tampines Rovers v Phnom Penh Crown (Cambodia)
• 17 May: Brunei DPMM v Home United
• 18 May: Loyola Meralco Sparks (Philippines) v Geylang United [live on TV]
• 19 May: Kanbawza (Myanmar) v Woodlands Wellington
• 20 May: Gombak United v Harimau Muda B (Malaysia)
• 21 May: Tanjong Pagar United v Hougang United