| Fadhil Yunus |
BRUNEI Darussalam should not be too downcast of their pair of losses against Malaysia Under-22 but will take confidence on unlocking primary targets which have been clearly defined as they embark final preparations ahead of the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Championship qualifiers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Most of the national players have also appeared in their first international game of the year.
Brunei’s head coach Mike Wong Mun Heng also said they clarified the manner they conceded both goals in the 2-0 defeat in the rematch.
“We conceded two goals from set pieces and one from a very poor bouncing off the defence line. These are the things we’ve looked at and we spoke about it,” said Wong in an interview with the media upon their arrival from Kuala Lumpur at the Brunei International Airport yesterday.
“We did well in the second game on defending set pieces because we’ve rectified it. We want to move on from there.
“It’s not just about results but it’s about what we want to achieve there. We know the difficulties playing Malaysia.” he further added.
Wong believed they had better clear cut chances than their opposition as suggested by statistics.
The team in a group photo. – FADHIL YUNUS
“I’m not worried about whether we can score or not. I’m more worried if we create enough number of opportunities to put the ball in the net,” said the Singaporean.
He added that players who earned their first international caps got nervous but settled down as they grew into the game.
“We have to look at them and some of them are available for the SEA Games next year,” he said.
The management and coaching staff will also be looking to bring down the average age of the national team as other countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam embrace the practice.
He added that in the next few years the national coach will have an easier job managing the players than at present.
Asked what the current average age of the national squad, Wong replied that “previously it was 30-something but we brought it down to 27”.
“We want to bring it down to 25 maybe 24. It is not going to be easy,” the Singaporean continued.
“We have to move forward and start our development. We know that in five or seven years we should be very stable.”
Wong also hinted players who made their case for a starting berth adding he was impressed with Indera SC’s Ikhmal Damit.
“They’re few players who performed well like Ikhmal from Indera. He surprised me with yesterday’s (Saturday) performance.”
Wong stressed the need to provide time for players to do well in the international level and not give up on the player because of a poor start.
“From my professional opinion, he has to have some training and some games, work with them and eventually mentally they will be ready for the big game.”
Wong also allayed any fitness concerns of the national players given that the friendly games were held close to the tournament.
“We have enough players to rotate. Actually we are happy we have some training. We’re already calculated number of games and number of playing times of each player,” he concluded.
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