The U22 Cambodian team will take on their Filipino counterparts today at 4pm at Olympic Stadium in a friendly warm-up fixture ahead of upcoming 2014 AFC U22 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Cambodia will head to Vientiane for Group F matches held between June 23 and July 3, while the Philippines will travel to Yangon for Group G games during the same time period.

In their most recent friendlies, Cambodia were held to a 0-0 draw away to Saigon FC and the Philippines were smashed 9-1 by Thailand U22s in Bangkok.

“Our team is well prepared for Wednesday’s game, and we will field our strongest starting line-up,” Cambodia’s assistant coach Hok Socheatra told the Post yesterday. “The Philippines are similar in performance. It will be a great test for us in the build-up to the tournament in two weeks’ time.”

The coach also noted there were chances for the late call- ups to the squad to cement their place in the team bound for Laos.

Attacking midfielder Tum Saray, who plays for Hun Sen Cup holders Preah Khan Reach, has been brought back into the side after missing out on the trip to Vietnam.

Metfone double down deal

The Football Federation of Cambodia has received another major boost to its activities after signing a new three-year sponsorship deal with Metfone.

The mobile-phone operator, currently the largest in Cambodia in terms of subscriptions, signed a US$1.5 million agreement for the naming rights to the Kingdom’s top tier league, the Metfone C-League, which will double up on their original three-year contract of the same amount.

The deal, which runs from 2013 to 2015, was reported by the Kampuchea Thmey daily newspaper yesterday following a signing ceremony held at the Sunway Hotel on Monday, to which Post reporters were not invited.

According to yesterday’s article, the money will not only be spent on sponsoring the next three seasons of the Metfone C-League, but will also go towards the Federation’s many domestic leagues and competitions.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ung Chamroeun at [email protected]

Dan Riley at [email protected]