DPMM FC eye U-23 players

Dennis Lim
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN



Sunday, September 25, 2011

DPMM FC will be looking to the Sultanate's U-23 team for some much needed players after Vjeran Simunic revealed that there is currently insufficient number of players in the squad yesterday, following their friendly match against the Royal Brunei Armed Forces' Sports Council (MS ABDB) football club.

The match ended in a goalless draw after 58 minutes of play at the Jerudong Park Polo Club football grounds.

The DPMM FC coach also used the opportunity to voice the need for more practice opponents to keep things fresh and interesting for his squad.

"We play with this team (MS ABDB) every time; the motivation isn't there because we keep playing with the same opponent. We need opponents from maybe another country or something," said Simunic.

"But with that said the training is fine. The players still run for the ball and fight for the ball as they should," he added.

The veteran Croatian is currently preparing the team in hopes of participating in the Singapore League that will start late February next year.

Asked what he and the team has to improve on, the coach replied, "We're going to continue to bring the fitness level higher; we're going to focus on not letting the players slip in form but raise in this area.

"Having just a day off in a week, we will train six times a week. Also maybe on Wednesday, we'll look to play another game with the U-23 squad and maybe on Saturday with this (MS ABDB) again," he said.

Yesterday's game saw DPMM FC players struggling to make the friendly on time, having to rush straight from work and having to cope with prayer times, but Simunic was more focused on the duration of the match.

"We only played 58 minutes; it was not a football match. So next time we have to be more punctual as the prayer times would stop us from play," he said, adding that given the situation, the players weren't fully up to the standards he expected.

"Even in this situation, the players are very tired. We have not had any training with the ball so we missed some good chances," said the coach.

"They're still not comfortable with the ball, they would need to work hard to get comfortable."

DPMM FC struggled to maintain possession early on in yesterday's game.

MS ABDB, meanwhile, put on an impressive showing upon kickoff and was putting their opponent's defence to the test.

Brunei's only professional club, however, showed their substance by staying calm and keeping a clear head to slowly settle into the groove of their game.

They would mount a comeback to properly contest and trouble their opponents by the start of the second half.

DPMM FC's newfound dominance kept MS ABDB's keeper busy but no goals were to be scored on the night with DPMM FC's best chance coming in the form of their second goal attempt in the half, having their shot find the post despite having the keeper beaten.

The Brunei Times
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