We’ve covered watching football in Cambodia, watching Phnom Penh Crown and watching the national team. But, what is it like watching the AFC Cup in Cambodia? Well it turns out we got to watch history get made.
Watching the AFC Cup in Cambodia – Phnom Penh Crown 3 Macarthur 0
Lets start with the match itself, Phnom Penh Crown are the champions of Cambodia, but playing against an A-League side they were expected to lose and lose heartily. The differences in budget are huge, but Crown have a great coach in Oleg and home advantage cannot be ignored.
The first 15 minutes were not all that much cop, but then Crown stepped into gear and by far were looking like they would be the first to score. In fact it took 75 minutes for it to happen, when Shimizu scored a greta goal in the 75th minute, followed by another in the 85th.
The fans were on cloud 9 by this point and were screaming for a third, and they got what they wanted. After a bit of a goal mouth scramble the ball fell to the edge of the box for Phach to launch a blinder into the bottom corner. It was 3-0 and a truly historic victory.
https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSNkCH24e
And the atmosphere?
The game was played at the National Olympic Stadium, which has a capacity of 20,000. Alas AFC rules state that seats need back, which meant that only one stand could be opened. This was not a huge deal though as they filled it up to capacity.
And part of this was made up of the Phnom Penh Crown Ultras who not only sang throughout the match, but carried on afterwards creating a real part atmosphere in their home away from home, as you can see in the video below.
https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSNkC3onv
There are a lot of clubs in Cambodia, but none have the history, or pedigree of Phnom Penh Crown and this was very evident to see on this night. Oh and for some context, Cambodia have not done this well since finishing 4th in the 1972 Asian Cup, which is long ago the Khmer Rouge had not even come into power……
Food and drinks when watching the AFC Cup in Cambodia
The National Olympic Stadium is electric on match days with there being street food everywhere, with everything from a boiled egg to lort cha (fried noodles) and Khmer BBQ being up for the taking.
And best of all you can even take beer into the stadium, so long as you put it in a plastic glass, which is more than fair enough. Although with that being said. People still snuck in cans, with security here far less anal and intrusive as you find in many other countries.
And that is the story with watching the AFC Cup in Cambodia, something we will hopefully get much more of after this result. And who knows, maybe we will even get some Champions League action judging by the coefficients……