Talking Points from Round Four of the CPL

Talking Points from Round Four of the CPL

Army March On

Defying pre-season expectations the Military’s campaign achieves another victory on the battlefield of the Olympic Stadium. Plaudits to the North Korean star Choe Myong-ho but Defence’s Cambodian foot soldiers have also been impressive. Pom Tola and Khek Khemrin may be the best attacking full-backs in the league whilst Reung Bunheing and club captain Phoung Soksana combine well with Pyongyang’s Ronaldo up-front. National team stalwart Chinn Chhouen, rested, during this weeks impressive victory over Boueng Ket Angkor, provides additional attacking menace. A well constructed team, with no African players, leading the league. Next up Phnom Penh Crown.

What is wrong with the champions?

Two more points dropped by Phnom Penh Crown – this time against league bottom-feeders Western Phnom Penh at their eponymous stadium. It appears that with Shane Booysen and Keo Sokpeng on the injury treatment table the squad does not have sufficient quality to compete. The fact that only one Crown player was selected by Lee Tae-Hoon for the latest national team defeat versus Syria is telling. 

The foreign contingent, so critical for a team’s success in the C League, is also sub-optimal. George Bisan (24 goals last season) and the serene defensive presence of Odion Obadin are sorely missed. Centre back Anthony Aymard, credited with an own-goal this week and whose two previous clubs in Singapore’s S-League have ominously folded, has not filed the Nigerian boots sufficiently whilst George Kelechi, who opened his season goal-scoring account at the weekend, has also struggled and is lacking service. Two South Koreans with suitable eclectic footballing experience (including spells in Brazil, Myanmar, Vietnam, Australia, Spain) have arrived and their influence will be interestingly followed. The club continues to, creditably, blood youngsters with two academy graduates debuting against Western and one suspects the future could be perfect. But the presence is tense.

Svay Rieng benefit from fixture inequality

Svay Rieng remain second in the table – a win against Naga thanks to a brace from Rwanda’s Atuheire Kipson in a week Khmer Goal reported that Prak Mony Udom had turned down a move to Thailand. However Svay Rieng have benefited from the particular quirks of the C-League fixture list having played all four of their opening matches at home and avoided the league’s stronger teams. The table below gives schedule difficulty of the 10 teams across the opening four weekends accounting for matches being played at home or away (or Olymipian neutral) and strength of opponent. The league average is represented by 100%.

National Police	116%
Naga World	116%
CMAC Utd	110%
Cambodian Tiger	110%
Western Phnom Penh	104%
Ministry of Defence	104%
Asia Europe	98%
Phnom Penh Crown	91%
Boeung Ket Angkor	85%
Svay Rieng	67%

As can be seen National Police and Naga World have had the most difficult fixtures thus far with Svay Rieng enjoying a significantly easy start. The provincials make their first trip to the capital this weekend but will be expecting three points from their visit to the Western Stadium.

Cambodian Tiger show bouncebackability

Coined by one of the Ia(i)n’s – Holloway or Dowie bouncebackability appears to be a trait that Japanese Cambodian Tiger possess. The predators are the only team this term to come from behind to win a C-League match having done so, now, on two occasions at the Olympic Stadium versus Asia Europe and CMAC. This season the team to score first has won 72% of matches (13 out of 18) in the league and only Tiger have pulled a victory from a losing position. However, unlike the leagues’ preponderance for goals, this statistic seems fairly standard for global football. This dated EPL analysis suggests just over 70% of home teams, and 60% of away ones, win having scored the first goal with a mathematical suggestion that 66% would be normal.

Match of Round Five

Army vs Phnom Penh Crown

Saturday 9^th April 15h30, Old Stadium

The league leaders versus the fallen champions as Army play their first real ‘home’ match of the season besides the Monivong roundabout. A battle of capitalism, casinos and South Korea versus state-control, the military and North Korea as Choe Myong-ho may face Crown’s new recruits from the south of the peninsula.

State of the League Weeks 1-3 Week 4 Goal (average per game) 66 (4.4) 14 (2.8) % goals scored by foreign players 65.2% 64%

Asia’s Ronaldo and the Army win four from four

Boeng Ket Angkor 1 – National Defence 2

CMAC Utd 1 – Cambodian Tiger 3

Olympic Stadium

2^nd April 2016

A double header at the Olympic Stadium with the main event a match-up between the two leaders of the Metfone Cambodian Premier League: Boeng Ket Angkor (logically) and Ministry of Defence (surprisingly). Both teams entered match-day four with 100% records and combined +22 goal difference after three games.

A growing crowd witnessed a North Korean show as Army displayed their military might. BKA coach Be Makara left the two attacking fulcrums Khoun Laboravy and Chan Vathanaka out of the starting line-up preferring an African, to a Cambodian, spearhead. The Nigerian trio of Dzarma Bata, Samuel Gbenga and Paul Omogba, the latter operating in a more advanced position than usual, leading the line. Omogba blasting over in early exchanges.

As a goal-less first half progressed the Army grew in confidence and attacking intent. Their forward threesome of captain Phuong Soksana, Reung Bunheing and North Korea’s Choe Myong-ho switching positions and stretching the BKA backline. The full-backs, the excellent Pom Tola and Khek Khemerin, providing overlapping support. It was this Army dominance that caused, after 38 minutes and to the delight of the crowd, Be Makara to demonstrate tactically flexibility and call  CV11 to action. However, unlike in earlier matches this season, Vathanaka could not ignite the game and it was another hero who emerged.

Number 32 Choe Myong-ho is increasingly becoming the leagues star. Nicknamed the Asian Ronaldo here you could see why. The same stocky solid build to the original Brazilian and the same ability to dribble and ghost past defenders. No real pace but able to drift and find space and, given an opportunity, to finish with either foot. It was one such finish, following a goalmouth scramble, that give Choe his 7^th strike of the season. He now sits alone atop the scoring chart. That goal, on 80 minutes, gave Defence a deserved 2-0 lead. BKA hit straight back through Gbenga’s 4^th of the season but never looked like stealing a share of the points as, on the final whistle, the Army celebrated manically and the team looks capable of a championship challenge.

Earlier, under the sun in a much emptier stadium, Cambodian Tiger came back from a goal down to secure victory over CMAC United. With the sounds of a nearby concert rehearsal echoing over the concrete CMAC took the lead with a wonderful curling finish from Un Chi. However Tiger, aided by the preponderance of CMAC’s goalkeeper San Usarphea for rushing off his line with seemingly no awareness of the consequences, responded emphatically. First Usarphea was unlucky to be adjudged to have brought down Taing Sopheak for a penalty that was easily converted by Tomoki Muramatsu. Subsequently poor positioning by the hapless number 22 keeper allowed  both Sopheak and Tomoki to add strikes as Tiger turned around a 1-0 deficit to a 3-1 victory over 15 minutes of second half football. Two victories for Tiger who sit 4^th in a heavily congested mid-table of the league.