Wednesday, August 6, 2014
FOOTBALL fans in the Sultanate will be treated to a very technical Thailand side at this week’s Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy.
“We will be using a number of tactics and our players are also very technical and very good with their movement... it will be very technical,” said Somsa Pobpasert in an interview with The Brunei Times at the arrival hall of the Brunei International Airport in Berakas yesterday.
“We were excellent when we played against the other teams in Thailand, but I want to see how do we fare against teams from outside the country and we will try our best.”
The two-time champions beat Myanmar to lift the 2005 edition of the trophy.
They beat Myanmar 5-4 on penalties to lift the crown but sat out the 2012 competition which Brunei won.
Indonesia won the inaugural competition in 2002.
Asked about their chances, the head coach replied: “We still have a chance to win this tournament, even though the training session is not enough, we are targetting the final.”
“We only managed to train for two months but not every day as most of the players are from the national league in Thailand and they have to return to their club every time they are needed,” he said.
“The players are still young, their average age is just 18 to 19 years old and we are looking to build these players for future tournaments.”
According to Somsa this tournament also serves as preparation for their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Championship in October.
Thailand is drawn in Group A alongside Timor Leste, Laos, Philippines and Myanmar.
They will kick-off their campaign on Friday against Myanmar at the Balapan Track and Field of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas before facing the Philippines at the same venue on Sunday.
They will play Timor Leste on Tuesday at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadum before finishing their group stage campaign against Laos three days later at the Balapan Track and Field.
“Brunei are good, their curve of football development is a little bit higher now. They try to put on a good performance every time and I think in five years, Brunei will be among the top teams in ASEAN,” said Somsa.
Hosts Brunei are in Group B with Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.
They will start their campaign against Cambodia on Saturday at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.
The Brunei Times
“We will be using a number of tactics and our players are also very technical and very good with their movement... it will be very technical,” said Somsa Pobpasert in an interview with The Brunei Times at the arrival hall of the Brunei International Airport in Berakas yesterday.
“We were excellent when we played against the other teams in Thailand, but I want to see how do we fare against teams from outside the country and we will try our best.”
The two-time champions beat Myanmar to lift the 2005 edition of the trophy.
They beat Myanmar 5-4 on penalties to lift the crown but sat out the 2012 competition which Brunei won.
Indonesia won the inaugural competition in 2002.
Asked about their chances, the head coach replied: “We still have a chance to win this tournament, even though the training session is not enough, we are targetting the final.”
“We only managed to train for two months but not every day as most of the players are from the national league in Thailand and they have to return to their club every time they are needed,” he said.
“The players are still young, their average age is just 18 to 19 years old and we are looking to build these players for future tournaments.”
According to Somsa this tournament also serves as preparation for their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Championship in October.
Thailand is drawn in Group A alongside Timor Leste, Laos, Philippines and Myanmar.
They will kick-off their campaign on Friday against Myanmar at the Balapan Track and Field of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas before facing the Philippines at the same venue on Sunday.
They will play Timor Leste on Tuesday at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadum before finishing their group stage campaign against Laos three days later at the Balapan Track and Field.
“Brunei are good, their curve of football development is a little bit higher now. They try to put on a good performance every time and I think in five years, Brunei will be among the top teams in ASEAN,” said Somsa.
Hosts Brunei are in Group B with Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.
They will start their campaign against Cambodia on Saturday at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.
The Brunei Times
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