The Metfone Cambodian League club Svay Rieng FC flew to Singapore yesterday afternoon to play in the qualifying round of the 2015 Singapore Cup at Jalan Besar Stadium, which started yesterday and is scheduled to finish next Thursday.

In the first qualifying round of the annual event, Svay Rieng will face Albirex Niigata Singapore, the Singaporean league champions, today at 7:30pm, while Philippine side Global FC will play Hougang United of Singapore and Lao Police meet home side Geylang International.

For this trip, Svay Reing called on their 10 members of the Cambodian U23 and senior sides, and the squad also includes four foreign players to help them go a stage further in the 2015 RHB Singapore Cup after they were beaten by the same opponents 3-0 at the same stage in 2014.

Svay Rieng head coach Sam Vandeth told the Post on Tuesday: “Even though we called up the players who are training with the national teams to help, their absence through training with the national sides may affect the rhythm of the team, while Albirex Niigata SG are in good form.”

“If we were to get past Albirex Niigata, it would be a great achievement because the team is packed with Japanese players who have been outstanding in the Singapore league.

“However, we have hope because we know their abilities after we lost 3-0 in our first meeting last year,” he added.

The Svay Rieng coach confirmed that “we want to give chances to our younger players in order for them to gain more experience as well as more strength, which is an important catalyst in raising the standard of Cambodian football”.

“The important point is that we want to win in the qualifying round against Albrirex Niigata because, if we do so, we will go through to next round, which is played in home and away games,” he said.

“If we can do that, we can bring a side in the tournament to play on our soil at Svay Rieng to satisfy our supporters in Cambodia.”