Back in 2018, iconic Japanese playmaker Keisuke Honda created quite a stir when it was announced he would be joining the backroom staff of the Cambodia national team.
For one, then still only 32, the former CSKA Moscow and AC Milan star — just a couple of months fresh from reaching the FIFA World Cup round of 16 with Japan — was still plying his trade professionally having completed a move to A-League outfit Melbourne Victory around the same time.
That Cambodia were also relative minnows even on a continental and regional scale, ranked 175th in the FIFA world rankings at the time of Honda’s appointment, meant the arrival of such an illustrious name in Asian football made plenty of headlines.
