The surface at the National Olympic Stadium hosted last month’s 2019 AFF U22 Championship featuring the hosts, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Myanmar.

The pitch was lampooned by fans with some taking to social media to troll the Cambodians, labeling the loose rubber and low-grade surface as a “home of pig pitch”.

It provided the Malaysians with handy preparation for their own AFC Olympics qualifiers over the next fortnight against, amongst others, Guus Hiddink’s China.

One person who knows what it’s like facing Cambodia on this pitch is former Socceroo Brad Maloney, the Malaysian U23s assistant coach.

He says getting used to the heat in Phnom Penh is one thing, but the pitch is a whole other challenge with its bounce and heat underfoot.

 

“It’s an artificial pitch but it’s not high-quality. We found last month there was a lot of small rubber granules spread all over the pitch," said Maloney.

“That tends to make it even warmer at times in hot conditions and definitely the surface is not of the highest quality.

“It adds another dimension to the bounce and the roll of the ball. It really takes players a bit of time to adapt. It’s different from natural grass.

“It definitely wasn’t conducive to playing attacking football.”

Adding to the challenge for the Australians is an expected 50,000 crowd willing on their Angkor Warriors at the National Olympic Stadium.

And with the Australians seemingly not able to find an artificial pitch to train on during their week-long camp in Kuala Lumpur last week, this all could spell danger for a talented group desperate to qualify for their first Olympics since 2008.

What's more the weather forecast for Friday is 37 degrees with scattered thunderstorms for the latter part of the day in Phnom Penh.

It will be a challenge. But it also could be the making of this group.

“Once you arrive in the host city, you may only get one official session on that actual pitch,” explained Maloney, who’s been with the Malaysian FA for five years and is well-respected in Malaysian football.

“Training pitches are governed by the hosts, so you don’t really have a choice of where and when you’re going to train.”

It’s unclear if the Olyroos will train more than once on this pitch before their opener, which is set for an 8pm kick off with their following two matches at 5pm.

And it’s crucial to start well because of the way the qualification process is governed. The Olyroos must top AFC Group H or at least finish a very strong second to have any hope of qualifying.

Only the best four of 11 second-placed nations across Asia will progress with seven second-placed nations missing out.

It will be a tight squeeze.

Australia must hope to win their two games over Cambodia and Chinese Taipei and at least get a draw against the Korea Republic to have a chance of progressing.

Those nations that progress will meet in Thailand in January 2020, where the final four countries that make the semi-finals will book their place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

If there’s any consolation, the talented Koreans could also struggle on this surface.

But can this Australian group – which is still gelling as a group – do enough to get a result this Friday night?

One person taking the threat of the Cambodians seriously is Olyroos coach Graham Arnold, who was impressed with the Angkor Warriors during last month’s AFC tournament.

The Olyroos departed Kuala Lumpur for Phnom Penh earlier today after a week-long camp that included a 2-0 loss to a Malaysian Super League side and a 1-1 draw with Maloney’s Malaysia on Sunday night.

With some double-sessions in the heat, the players should be physically prepared.

“You can’t underestimate the Cambodians,” warned Maloney, whose side was beaten 1-0 by Cambodia last month after Malaysia suffered a second-half red card.

“This Cambodian team plays together quite a bit. They are used to playing on that type of surface and in those weather conditions so it’ll be difficult to overcome.

"Plus that stadium, when they have an official home game it’s not unusual to have a sellout 50,000 in the stadium and another 5-10,000 fans on the outside of the stadium.

“You’re up against a lot of factors."