Historical figure
Nick Taylor (footballer)
Nick Taylor is an American-born footballer of Khmer ancestry who has played for the Cambodia national team since 2022. He plays as a left winger or a left back.[1]
Early life and career in the United States
Taylor told FIFA, world football's governing body, that he was born in Texas, began playing competitively at about the age of ten for several clubs, and played for his high school team at 15 or 16.[1] After being picked in the Major League Soccer (MLS) SuperDraft, he signed with Orlando City B for the first season of the MLS Next Pro league, which Orlando City announced in March 2022.[2]
Cambodia
FIFA wrote that Cambodia's national team scouts found out about his Khmer ancestry while he played in Orlando. Taylor said that toward the end of the 2022 season the national coach messaged him on social media and invited him to the team's camp before a match against Bangladesh. It was his first time in Cambodia.[1]
He first played international football at the 2022 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Championship, and in February 2023 he joined the Cambodian club Svay Rieng, for which he was playing in March 2024.[1] After a year in the country, he told FIFA, he had gone from feeling half Cambodian to feeling completely Cambodian. He called playing for Cambodia a great honor, given what the Cambodian people have suffered, and said he hoped to inspire young players there to keep chasing their dreams.[1]
References