NFABD Deputy President Pehin
Datu Indera Sugara Brigadier
General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Hj
Mohammad Yusof Abu Bakar (L)
giving some advice to the
national Under-19 football
team prior to their
departure to the Asian
Football Confederation (AFC)
Under-19 Championship
qualifiers in Bangkok
yesterday. Picture:
BT/Saifulizam
The national Under-19 football team are looking to produce a better showing at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-19 Championship qualifiers in Bangkok.
They are slightly more experienced now having competed at the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Under-19 Championship in Surabaya, Indonesia last month, though they failed to return with a point from five games.
Head coach Dayem Hj Ali is hoping that his team will be able to improve on that outing at this week's Oct 8-12 qualifiers.
"We have some new faces in the squad. We have made some changes at the back as well as replace the goalkeepers," said Dayem in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday before departure at the Brunei International Airport in Berakas.
"We have been training regularly and hopefully we can do well at the tournament.
"We were always looking to score some goals in our last outing but we lacked the experience.
"The gelling was not there yet as well and the players were not playing as a unit.
"Hopefully there won't be a repeat of what happened in Indonesia. We want to improve after each game," continued Dayem.
Brunei returned without a point from Surabaya and only got on the scoresheet once, and let in 30 goals.
Dayem has identified several weaknesses and has worked on it since their return to be better prepared this time out.
"The players had trouble keeping focus for the whole 90 minutes. They were quite inconsistent," said Dayem.
"That was the most worrying thing but I believe that this time should be different.
"We have been working on our defence as we need to move together in the right pattern
"The coaching staff is always giving the players encouragement and motivation as we will be up against some strong teams," he added.
"We also feel lucky that we have coach Stephen (Ng Heng Seng, the national under-16 football coach) on board to help give advice during the games," concluded Dayem.
Brunei have been drawn with North Korea, Singapore and Thailand in Group H.
The Sultanate kick off their campaign against North Korea tomorrow.
The Sultanate kick off their campaign against North Korea tomorrow.
The qualifiers comprise of 40 teams separated into nine groups, with the winners of their respective groups earning a ticket to the October 2014 finals in Myanmar.
They will be joined by six second-best placed sides and hosts Myanmar in the finals.
The tournament also serve as the qualifiers for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, with the top-four sides in the 2014 edition booking a place in tournament proper to be held in New Zealand in 2015.
NFABD Deputy President Pehin Datu Indera Sugara Brigadier General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Hj Mohammad Yusof Abu Bakar and other NFABD officials saw the team off.
