Cambodia national team appoints new coach before match against Vietnam; Referee for Vietnam - Laos match revealed

Cambodia team appoints new coach before match against Vietnam

The Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC) has just appointed Mr. Koji Gyotoku as the head coach of the national team and U23 Cambodia under a one-year contract. This is not a strange face to Cambodian football, as he has worked in this country for many years.

Coach Koji Gyotoku’s first task will be to lead the Cambodian team to face Vietnam in an international friendly match on March 19 (Go Dau Stadium, Binh Duong). After that, Mr. Gyotoku’s team will have another match on this occasion against Aruba on March 25 at the Olympic Stadium (Cambodia).

Before taking up the position of head coach of Cambodia, Mr. Gyotoku spent many years working with Cambodian youth teams. Since 2019, he has led the U21, U16 and U19 teams of Cambodia.

With his extensive experience and understanding of Cambodian football, Coach Koji Gyotoku is expected to help the team perform well in the coming time, especially in the match against Vietnam which will take place in just over a week.

Coach Okiyama Masahiko officially leads Vietnam's youth women's teams

On March 10, the Vietnam Football Federation signed a contract with coach Okiyama Masahiko. The Japanese coach will take on the role of head coach of the Vietnam U17 and U20 women's youth teams, aiming to improve the quality of training and prepare the team for upcoming international tournaments.

Coach Okiyama Masahiko was born on March 15, 1968, is an experienced strategist with more than 30 years of experience in professional football. He has worked for a long time at Japan's leading football academies such as Shonan Bellmare, Yamato Sylphid and JFA Academy.

The appointment of coach Okiyama Masahiko is an important step in the development strategy of Vietnamese women's football.

According to the plan, Mr. Okiyama Masahiko will immediately start working, directly monitoring domestic youth tournaments to search for and train promising factors. In the coming time, the U17 and U20 women's teams of Vietnam will have important training sessions to prepare for major tournaments at the regional and continental levels.

The presence of coach Okiyama Masahiko promises to bring a breath of fresh air to the training of young women's football, while contributing to improving the quality of the coaching staff, aiming towards the further goal of raising the level of Vietnamese women's football on the international football map.

Referee for Vietnam - Laos match revealed

On the afternoon of March 10, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) announced that a team of UAE referees will officiate the match between Vietnam and Laos, within the framework of the opening match of the third qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup. This match will take place at 7:30 p.m. on March 25, at Go Dau Stadium (Binh Duong).

Accordingly, the main referee and 3 assistants are all from the UAE. The main referee appointed by the Asian Football Confederation to officiate this match is Mr. Yahya Ali Almulla. According to Transfermarkt, Mr. Yahya Ali Almulla has officiated a total of 149 matches, from the UAE national championship, the U20 Asian finals, the World Cup qualifiers, the AFC Champions League Two or the U23 Asian finals...

In 149 matches as a referee, Mr. Yahya Ali Almulla issued 623 yellow cards, 18 indirect red cards, 20 direct red cards and blew 64 penalties. Mr. Yahya Al Mulla has refereed 2 matches at the 2021 SEA Games (held in 2022 due to Covid-19) in Vietnam. Those were the match where U23 Malaysia won 3-1 against U23 Laos; U23 Thailand defeated U23 Indonesia with a score of 1-0 after extra time (the match had 11 yellow cards, 3 indirect red cards and 1 direct red card).

According to the plan, after gathering on March 11 in Binh Duong, the Vietnamese team will play a friendly match with the Cambodian team (March 19). After that,Vietnam teamface Laos team on March 25, in the opening match of the third qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup.

Neymar injured again

The Brazilian star was injured and could not participate in Santos' 1-2 defeat to Corinthians in the Paulista state championship on the morning of March 10.

Sharing about the situation after the match with Corinthians, Neymar wrote on his personal page: "What I wanted was to be on the field today and help my teammates. But a few days before, I felt uncomfortable, which prevented me from playing. We did a check-up this morning and I felt pain again. Unfortunately, this is part of football."

Neymar sat on the bench for the entire match, watching Santos lose to Corinthians and be eliminated in the semi-finals of the Paulista state championship. Before that, the former PSG star scored 3 goals and contributed 3 assists in the last 4 matches for Santos.

Speaking after the loss to Corinthians, Santos coach Pedro Caixinha said: "Neymar felt uncomfortable. He could not join the team. I asked Neymar to sit out. Neymar was disappointed that he could not play today. All the attention was on Neymar's discomfort. When a player feels pain, I will not take risks."

Brazil's number one star has not played a match for the team since October 2023, when he suffered an injury that tore his cruciate ligament (ACL) and torn his knee cartilage./.