Brunei has been handed a relatively easier group at next month's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games football competition in Myanmar.
The sultanate has been drawn with two-time defending champions Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and Laos in Group A of the Under-23 competition which will run from December 1-22.
Hosts Myanmar will join Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and Timor Leste in Group B.
Brunei open their campaign against Laos on Dec 6 and face Malaysia two days later. They will then meet Singapore on Dec 10 and Vietnam on Dec 12.
Group A action will take place in Naypyidaw while Group B games will play out in Yangon.
Despite Brunei enjoying the luck of the draw, they still face an uphill struggle to qualify for the semi-finals - especially considering their poor showing in Jakarta two years ago.
Making its return to the competition after 10 years, Brunei failed to progress past the group stage at the 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia after managing one win, one draw and three losses.
Brunei started their campaign with a 2-1 loss to Timor Leste before drawing 2-2 with Laos.
They then fell 4-0 to Myanmar and 8-0 to Vietnam before recording their sole win in their last match against the Philippines 2-1.
Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia are the favourites to qualify for the last-four, but Ong Kim Swee knows that he can't take the other teams for granted.
"The draw is balanced but we cannot deny the fact that Singapore and Vietnam will be the main challengers. We also can't underestimate Laos, Brunei and the Philippines," said Malaysia's coach on Twitter.
The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports' national selection and evaluation committee, in September, approved the nomination of 63 athletes from 10 sports to the regional meet.
Wushu, karatedo and pencak silat squads are once again expected to head the list of medal hopefuls.
Athletics, billiards & snooker, cycling, sepak takraw, petanque and taekwondo complete the list.
Brunei was the only country not to finish with a gold medal in Indonesia, returning instead with four silver and 11 bronze medals
