The U-14 Cambodia national team held a training camp at J-GREEN Sakai in Sakai, Osaka from Sunday 9 November to Friday 21 November.

This training camp is part of the arts and cultural exchange programme for ASEAN-member countries, which is supported by the Japan Foundation Asia Center. The Japan Foundation Asia Center creates opportunities to exchange art and culture between Japan and other Asian countries under the slogan of ‘WA Project: Toward Interactive Asia’, co-hosting many events with other organisation such as JFA.

With Iki Yusuke, the head coach and also the former head coach of the Vegalta Sendai Academy, the players showed their football style based on passing in combination for counter-attacks and played well in friendlies against Japanese teams during the training camp. This generation is supposed to play an important part of a 10-year long project, which aims at hosting the South East Asian Games (SEA GAME) in Cambodia in 2023 for the first time and winning the championship. The team managed to show off its improvement in a tough schedule with six matches in two weeks.

Game results

Many players visited Japan for the event JENESYS2.0 in April. Some have been taking Japanese classes twice a week for the past six months and showed their language skills at J-GREEN Sakai. The players also enjoyed themselves off the pitch, including watching the Japan national team’s match and the Japanese drum-playing event hosted by the Japan Foundation.

Comment

Keo Solyda, Representative of the Team
I’m really grateful to the Japan Foundation and the Japanese Football Association that we had friendlies against such high-level teams at excellent Japanese facilities and had a great experience, such as exchanging culture and arts. I was truly impressed with the kind Japanese support throughout the training camp. I also learned many things from the hardworking Japanese attitude and the never-give up playing style. I’ll bring what I learned back to the Cambodian Academy to improve it more.

IKI Yusuke, Head Coach
First of all, I’m truly grateful to the Japanese Football Association and the Japan Foundation that I had chance to lead the U-14 Cambodia national team and hold a training camp at one of the best facilities in Japan. Thanks to the Japanese teams, who played against us, and the Osaka Football Association, who organised the matches, we held a fulfilling camp. Although we couldn’t win a game, I saw much improvement in each player compared to early spring. I also saw the players and the staff learned something new that might change them in the future. They had a good experience off the pitch as well, which, I’m sure, will boost their energy to live better. I think it means a lot for the players from Cambodia, which is not the richest country, to stay and practice in Japan. I hope we can continue a good relationship between the JFA, the Japan Foundation and us. Thank you.

Dona Sem, Player
I had a wonderful time at the training camp, experiencing excellent facilities, completely different meals and culture. I learned a lot from every single match, and felt the improvement of our team. I’m grateful to the Japanese Football Association for giving us such an opportunity.

Ontoch Ath, Player
I had a fulfilling time in an excellent environment with great teams, which I’ve never experienced in Cambodia. I learned a lot from the never-give up attitude of the Japanese and their high-level play. I’d like to bring them back to improve myself more.