The FFC's decision to appoint 60-year-old Japanese coach Koji Gyotoku to officially lead the Cambodian national team and the U.23 team is considered quite a surprise. Previously, this military leader worked as an interim coach since September 2024, replacing the resignation of Argentine coach Felix Dalmas.
Coach Kim Sang-sik and the Vietnamese team will face a significant opponent, when the Cambodian team officially has a coach and naturalized players.
However, the failure at the AFF Cup 2024 when the Cambodian team, with a major change including many naturalized players, only ranked second to last in Group A with only 4 points and was eliminated early, caused coach Koji Gyotoku to receive a lot of criticism.
In addition, goalkeeper Vireak Dara was accused of match-fixing after conceding two easy goals in a 1-2 loss to Singapore, putting the Japanese coach under a lot of pressure.
Until recently, FFC officially announced to clear the suspicion of match-fixing for goalkeeper Vireak Dara, after an investigation showed that this player only made a technical mistake, with no signs of match-fixing.
The incident was cleared up, also helping coach Koji Gyotoku regain the trust of FFC and the country's fans. Through that, FFC officially invited the Japanese coach to lead the Cambodian national team and the U.23 team for a period of 1 year.
Mr. Koji Gyotoku is considered to have made great contributions in promoting the naturalization of many recent players of Japanese, Colombian, American and Ivory Coast origin to the Cambodian national team.
Notable players include striker Nieto Rondon (Colombian), defenders Hikaru Mizuno, Takaki Ose and Yudai Ogawa (Japanese), Ivorian striker Coulibaly Abdel Kader and Nick Taylor (American). In addition, FFC has just completed the naturalization of South African player Kanyar Mo.
According to the Khmer Times , coach Koji Gyotoku, after becoming the official coach of the Cambodian national team, will call up most of the currently eligible naturalized players to the official squad, to prepare for the international friendly match against the Vietnamese national team at 7:30 p.m. on March 19 in Binh Duong .
This is also the official debut of coach Koji Gyotoku with the Cambodian team, after 7 temporary matches since September 2024 with the results of 2 wins, 1 draw and 4 losses. The Cambodian team is expected to have 7-8 naturalized players, which will significantly increase its strength and be a significant counterweight to coach Kim Sang-sik and his team in the warm-up match, before meeting the Lao team (also in Binh Duong) at 7:30 p.m. on March 25 to open the 3rd qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/campuchia-co-hlv-chinh-thuc-ngay-truoc-cuoc-gap-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-cai-ten-bat-ngo-185250311105912709.htm
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