This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Former Japan international Keisuke Honda has been named general manager of Cambodia’s national team just a week after signing for Melbourne Victory in the A-League.



However, Melbourne Victory were quick to assure fans that their marquee signing would not miss A-League matches, being available to Cambodia only when the competition paused for Fifa-sanctioned international dates.



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Set to arrive in Melbourne this week, the 32-year-old was unveiled in his new role at a media conference in Pnomh Penh on Sunday, signing a two-year contract without pay, although he will have his travel expenses paid for.



Honda, who retired from international football following Japan’s exit in the last 16 of the World Cup in Russia, is expected to oversee the Cambodia team’s campaign in South East Asia’s 10-team AFF Suzuki Cup tournament, which runs between 8 November and 15 December.



How exactly he would go about that was unclear although A-League.com said it understood Honda would hold a video conference once a week with the Cambodian team and staff from his Melbourne base.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Keisuke Honda celebrates after scoring against Senegal at Russia 2018. Photograph: Clive Rose/Getty Images

“I would like to help the Cambodian team to have one clear style of playing and promote the country to the outside world,” Honda said through an interpreter.

A Victory spokesman said the club was aware and supportive of Honda’s negotiations with Cambodia when they signed him.



For the first time next season, the A-League is scheduled to pause for Fifa international dates. It will break between 12 and 20 November between rounds four and five – with Victory scheduled to play on 11 November and then 25 November.

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Honda, who has been capped 98 times and played for Milan and CSKA Moscow across an impressive club career, opened a football academy in Phnom Penh in 2016.



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Sao Sokha, president of the Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC) and acting commander-in-chief of the country’s military police, said: “I hope that the experience of the international star will help improve the technique of our national team players and the match results will be better than before.”

Cambodia are ranked 166th in the world by Fifa with their best result in an international tournament being a fourth-place finish at the 1972 Asian Cup in Thailand.