Football: Brunei ready for 'battle for gold'

Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN



Thursday, December 8, 2011

THE national Under-21 football team are looking to continue their fine form at the 4th Borneo Games at Samarinda, East Kalimantan, in Indonesia.

The Sultanate despite playing with 10 men recorded a 2-0 win over neighbours Sarawak in their opener on Tuesday.

They face the hosts East Kalimantan, who thrashed South Kalimantan 4-1 in their first game, today.

The match could possibly decide the title and national assistant coach Hj Md Rosanan Abdullah Samak said that the team are ready to do battle at the Utama Palaran Stadium.

"We are ready for the challenge and we hope that we can go out there and win," said Hj Md Rosanan during an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.

"The head coach (Kwon Oh-son) has helped the team adjust and pointed out their weaknesses in the afternoon (on Wednesday). We have also gone through our tactics for the match," he added.

The assistant coach told The Brunei Times after their first victory at the Games that the team, who are also preparing for the Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy (HBT) on Feb 25, were a little nervous in their opener considering that the country was suspended from international football from September 2009 to May 2011 and had not played any international matches for the past two years.

But he does hope that the players will settle in quickly for today's battle for gold.

"I hope the players will be in a good condition for the match and they will have to be more confident," said Hj Md Rosanan.

Defender Abdul Mu'iz Sisa will not feature in the match after being sent off against Sarawak for picking up two yellow cards. Safwan Amaluddin Sabli, 16, who plies his trade for the Brunei Youth Team, will replace Abdul Mu'iz in the starting lineup.

"He may be young, but I have confidence in him. He (Safwan) will have to believe in himself as well," said Hj Md Rosanan. The match kicks off at 4pm.The Brunei Times