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NEWS & EVENTS
Hazwan seals victory
Monday, September 23, 2013

(Top) Hazwan Hamzah
scored the decisive
penalty in the
national team's
10-9 penalty
shootout win against
East Kalimantan in
Saturday's Borneo
Games football
final. (Above)
National coach Hj
Zainuddin Hj Kassim
said the team's
focus won them the
match. Picture:
BT/Yusri Adanan

Hazwan Hamzah had the most pressure on his shoulders during the national football team's win against East Kalimantan in Saturday's Borneo Games football final.

Hazwan stepped up to the spot to score the winning goal during the 10-9 penalty shootout to seal a memorable win for the national Under-23 team that is set to compete at December's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar.

Brunei started off the game strong to take a 1-0 lead over East Kalimantan at the Labuan Sports Complex, but East Kalimantan found their way back into the game and scored two goals to lead 2-1.

Brunei then changed their play to an attacking style to score the equaliser before full time.

"We didn't expect to reach penalties because East Kalimantan are a really tough team but we never gave up," Hazwan told The Brunei Times.

"For the last penalty kick I was really scared but the supporters and my team mates were all behind me to give me the confidence to take the kick and win the game for us.

"I'm very happy that we managed to win and I have to give a big thanks to the management team, players and a special thanks to all my family and the supporters," added Hazwan.

Though he was pleased with the win, the team's coach Hj Zainuddin Hj Kassim insisted that a lapse in concentration would have cost them the match.

"The final was actually a fifty-fifty game between the two teams," he noted.

"The game would have been over for us if we lost concentration because they are a strong team.

"When we were down 2-1 we changed our tactics and concentrated more on attack to look for the equaliser (and) it was a really shaky battle for us during the penalty kicks.

"They had new rules that didn't allow some of our players to take the shots so we had to resort to our goal keeper to take a shot.

"It was a bit worrying because that's not something he does during training," added Hj Zainuddin.

During the group stage Brunei defeated Sabah 1-0, went past East Kalimantan 2-1 and drew 1-1 with Labuan and 0-0 against Sarawak.

Courtesy from Brunei Times