24 August 2015

Brunei end Under-14 tourney without a win

Sunday, August 23, 2015

THE Asian Football Federation (AFC) Under-14 Regional Festival of Football concluded last night with Brunei losing their last game against Timor Leste 5-0, the result the hosts’ fourth defeat in as many games.

Brunei opened the festival last Tuesday with a 3-0 loss to the Philippines but they followed that up with a much-improved game against Myanmar, where they went down 3-2.

The third game saw Malaysia smash Brunei 8-0 in a match that was fully dominated by the Malaysians.

“It is a good experience for the players as they need to understand the level of international football,” said national Under-14 coach Fujiwara Takao after the match at the Balapan Track and Field of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex.

“What is more important whether we change our attitude to football or not.

“Hopefully, for the next stage, there can be selection of more players from other districts and not just from Brunei Muara - then there will be more competition between players.

“One of the problems also is that it is difficult to get players to come to training every day due to other commitments such as schools as I only have full team training on Friday and Sunday only.

“Maybe in the future, schools can give permit to players under the national team to train more.

“Furthermore, the culture here needs to change as well because people must see sports as important as education,” said the Japanese.

At the closing ceremony, also present as the guest of honour and give away the prizes were Brunei’s Permanent Secretary (Core Education) at the Education Ministry Dr Hj Junaidi Hj Abd Rahman.

All players that participated the football festival received medals and certificate of participation at the end of the event.
Among the festival’s purposes were to provide a continuous player development pathway from the grassroots at the school level to the elite level and ensure a smooth transition for elite players to the national team.

The Brunei Times 

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