National Under-23 football team
manager Hj Feisal Hj Eusoff (R)
gestures while national coach
Kwon Oh-son looks on during a
recent training session.
Picture: BT/ Ak Fauzi Pg Salleh
The national Under-23 football team have lined up more games in their bid to prepare for December's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar.
The side are currently in Indonesia for a friendly against the country's Under-23 team in Yogyakarta today, the match the squad's first international outing since they started training in March.
The team's manager has confirmed that they will also take to the field during next month's Borneo Games in Sabah and October's Inter-City Football tournament in Sarawak.
"We have a very busy schedule ahead of us as we will also be taking part in the Borneo Games in Labuan next month and the Inter-City Football tournament in Kuching," said Hj Feisal Hj Eusoff in a recent interview.
"It will be very good training for us... We need to play as many friendly games as we can before the tournament to make sure that the players are ready in terms of fitness and game time.
"Other countries are preparing seriously for the SEA Games this year," he said, adding that Indonesia are planning to play a number of friendly games in the Middle-East and Europe to prepare for the Dec 11-22 regional tournament.
The team has been reinforced by three DPMM FC players who have been released to play at the SEA Games striker Adi Said, midfielder Azwan Ali Rahman and goalkeeper Muhd Fakhrul Zulhazmi Yussof.
"I'd like to thank His Royal Highness Prince Hj Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office, for releasing the players to join the national team," said Hj Feisal in a previous report in The Brunei Times.
"It is very good to have them in the team.
"I think they helped to change the game just now and I am sure that they will help the team to become a lot stronger," he said after a friendly against DPMM FC on Monday.
The national Under-23 team lost 2-1 to DPMM FC in the game at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas.
DPMM's Brazilian defender Tales Ricarte dos Santos and Lithuanian striker Arturas Rimkevicius scored a goal each while striker Adi, who laced up for the national side, hit the mark for the national side.
