Cambodia coach Honda disturbed ahead of Indonesia clash

By Hieu Luong December 22, 2022 | 11:59 pm PT

Cambodia coach Keisuke Honda in the 3-2 AFF Cup win of Cambodia against the Philippines on December 20, 2022. Photo by the Football Federation of Cambodia

Cambodia head coach Keisuke Honda said his sleep was interrupted by two phone calls at night, a day before the team's game against Indonesia in the 2022 AFF Cup on Friday.

"It was 4 a.m. They hung up when I picked up the phone," Honda wrote on Twitter.

He is also worried that the Cambodian players will also get the calls and told them a few ways to deal with it.

"This is a common story before the big games," he said.

Cambodia started the 2022 AFF Cup with a thrilling 3-2 win against the Philippines. Meanwhile, Indonesia will play their first game of the tournament against Cambodia on Friday. Aside from a better squad, Indonesia will be playing at their home stadium Gerola Bung Karno, cheered on by 80,000 fans.

"The game against Indonesia is very important and challenges are awaiting us," Honda said. "We will prepare carefully for this clash."

In previous 17 encounters, Cambodia failed to beat Indonesia. The Cambodians lost 16 games and got one draw.

The 2022 AFF Cup is Honda's third tournament with the Cambodian national team. Before the tournament, he criticized the organizers for arranging Cambodia's tight schedule, saying that playing a game every three days is not reasonable.

When Honda was still a player, he represented Japan in three World Cups, from 2010 to 2018 and he was a member of the team that won the Asian Cup in 2011. He also made his mark in Europe when playing for Russian club CSKA Moscow and Italian giant AC Milan. In 2018, Honda decided to coach Cambodia and help develop the football scene there.