Angkor Warriors kick off party for Cambodia with football victory

Cambodia fans cheering on their team in the SEA Games opening match against Timor Leste in Phnom Penh on Saturday. ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO
The Cambodia team celebrating after scoring the third goal during the Group A clash between Cambodia and Timor Leste. ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO

PHNOM PENH – The party does not officially start for Cambodia until the SEA Games opening ceremony on Friday. But that did not stop 29,985 fans from kicking off celebrations early as their national Under-22 football team defeated Timor-Leste 4-0 in their opening game on Saturday.

A sea of blue greeted the team as they marched onto the pitch at the 50,000-seater National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, before notching their first win over Group A opponents Timor-Leste.

While Cambodia have never medalled in the football competition, the first-time hosts will be hoping that the Angkor Warriors will feature at the state-of-the-art Morodok Techo National Stadium, which will host the opening ceremony, as well as the semi-finals and finals for football.

Chess and cricket also got under way with the hosts in action on Saturday, but football was what brought them into the rustic stadium on a sticky, sultry evening, as the rafters rocked from the stomps and cheers of thousands of fervent home fans.

Loud cheers echoed around the stadium six minutes before half-time, when Chou Sinti swept home from inside the box to give the hosts the lead, before the midfielder got his brace in first-half stoppage time.

At the break, local hip-hop duo Kmeng Khmer’s nationwide hit Bonn Phum blared from the speakers and the boisterous crowd lapped it up, rapping along and dancing in their seats.

In the second half, Cambodia added to the scoreline through Sor Rotana and Lim Pisoth. They will play the Philippines on Tuesday.

Tickets are free for all events at the Games to allow locals to soak in the action and atmosphere, with the party scene a far cry from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, when the stadium was used as a testing facility and temporary hospital.

On Saturday, there were only smiles on fans’ faces and one of them was Leang Heng, a student at the Institute of Technology of Cambodia, who was at the stadium with four of his schoolmates.

Heng, 22, plans to watch volleyball and swimming in the weeks ahead. He said: “I don’t think I had ever queued for tickets to a sports event in Cambodia before this.

“But I had to be here today. My friends and I have been waiting for this and said we must somehow be here.

“It is big for our country to be hosts and we are all proud of that. To see so many Cambodians enjoying a big win makes me very happy.

“Hopefully, we can go all the way.”

In the day’s earlier Group A game, Hanoi Games bronze medallists Indonesia secured a 3-0 win over the Philippines, courtesy of a Marselino Ferdinan goal just before half-time and late strikes in the 90th minute and in stoppage time from Irfan Jauhari and Fajar Fathur Rahman respectively.

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