U-17 Cambodia Academy, managed by INOUE Kazunori on an overseas assignment as a JFA certified coach, held a 10-day training camp in Kashima City in March.

The squad had training and practice matches in the first half of the camp, while they participated in the 2017 J.League U-16 Challenge League in the later half. The young Cambodians also had an opportunity off the pitch to take a sight-seeing tour in Shibuya and experience a cultural exchange programme. On Friday 24 March, a rice-cake making event took place at Kashima City – Hirai Community Center, supported by Kashima City officials as part of their cultural exchange programme.

The following are the match results during their camp.

Training Matches（45min. x2）
Sunday 19 March  U-17 Cambodia Academy 6-1（5-0）Kashima Antlers Junior Youth
Tuesday 21 March U-17 Cambodia Academy 1-4（1-2) National Training Centre
Thursday 23 March  U-17 Cambodia Academy 3-3（1-2）Meishu Gakuen Hitachi High School

2017 J.League U-16 Challenge League (30min. x2)
Saturday 25 March
U-17 Cambodia Academy 0-2（0-2）Yokohama FC
U-17 Cambodia Academy 1-0（1-0) Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Youth

Sunday 26 March
U-17 Cambodia Academy 0-1（0-0）Kashima Antlers Youth
U-17 Cambodia Academy 1-3（0-1）FC Machida Zelvia Youth

Since the match scheduled on the final day of the tournament, Monday 27 March, was cancelled due to bad weather, it came to an end without the final rankings being determined.

The training camp came about as one of the cultural exchange programmes for the ASEAN nations through the cooperation of the Japan Foundation ASIA CENTER. Advocating "WA Project—Toward Interactive Asia through Fusion and Harmony” as a keyword, the Japan Foundation ASIA CENTER holds programmes to support cultural exchanges between Japan and Asian nations in collaboration with various organisations such as the JFA.

Coach's and Player's Comments

INOUE Kazunori, Coach
Cambodia Football Academy players have a strong admiration for Japanese football. They get motivated when I say, “Japanese players must be working harder at this moment,” during their daily training. The opportunity to play matches against the Japanese players of the same age group was a precious experience to help them understand where they currently stand. Regardless of the winning or losing those matches, I am quite happy to observe my players making significant progress. Furthermore, they have grown as a person by experiencing foreign culture and holding a training camp in Japan.

We alone cannot hold this kind of fruitful camp. I’m thankful for all the support from the Japan Football Association, J.League, Japan Foundation ASIA CENTER, Kashima Antlers and Kashima City. By having this wonderful opportunity to participate in the training camp in Japan, I further realised the importance of managerial coordination among different football entities, and the organisational structure in Japan will serve as an excellent model to help foster the football development in Cambodia together with the technical skills and the tactical aspects learnt during the training sessions and practice matches.

TEAT KIMHENG (Cambodia Academy)
I am not accustomed to the cold weather in Japan, but I still managed to work very hard. Japanese people are polite and friendly, and always say ‘thank you’. What surprised me the most is drivers obeying traffic lights at an intersection even without pedestrians. Japan is also a wonderful place with safe and sanitary environment, delicious food and advanced technology. There are many world-class football stadiums as well. I was able to learn many things by experiencing Japanese culture. I am looking forward to coming back again and learn more about Japanese culture. These activities outside of football training also provided me with an important learning experience where I will be looking to make full use of it in Cambodia. The JFA, Japan Foundation ASIA CENTER, J.League, Kashima Antlers and lodging and dining staff all took great care of us. I’m filled with gratitude.