| Fadhil Yunus |
BRUNEI Darussalam coach Kwon Oh Son has expressed gratitude to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for staging the AFC Solidarity Cup adding that the tournament provided a valuable experience for his side after finishing fourth in Kuching, Malaysia.
The national team slipped to a 3-2 defeat against Laos in the third place playoff – their third consecutive defeat and twice in regulation time – but
Kwon indicated that the inaugural tournament benefited his players.
“Playing in this competition is very important, it gives us a lot of international experience – not just us but the other countries too – and we have to thank the AFC for this,” Kwon told AFC.
“We have learned that we have to prepare well to be successful,” the South Korean tactician added.
Kwon also acknowledged his players’ efforts of attaining a result even though they fell short in the end.
“The players fought really well and they were mentally and physically well prepared and even though we went behind we kept fighting, but in the end we couldn’t score a third goal.
“Despite only having one-and-a-half day’s rest, the players tried to recover as fast as possible, however, during this match the players fought well and tried to come back into the game because we were losing,” he said.
Brunei Darussalam coach Kwon Oh Son. – FILE PHOTO
Kwon has also described his players’ performances as “excellent” as well as their opponents.
Meanwhile, Brunei Darussalam forward Shahrazen Said becomes the country leading goal-scorer with eight goals after grabbing a brace in a losing effort.
The DPMM FC striker managed four goals in the tournament and shares joint top alongside Macau’s Nicholas Torrao in the goal-scoring charts.
Meanwhile, Kwon’s opposite number Laos head coach Valakone Phomphakdy was relieved that his side settled the contest in normal time and avoided extra time and penalties.
“We had no time to rest so we knew our situation was difficult and we know our performance level and that’s why I wasn’t prepared for extra time,” Phomphakdy told AFC.
“We had to have some time to rest, but we were able to score the first goal and second goal. I talked with my assistant and we didn’t want extra time, whether we win or lose,” he continued.
Nepal were crowned AFC Solidarity Cup winners after edging Macau 1-0 in the final courtesy of a 36th minute header by Shreshtha Sujal.
Nepal coach Koji Gyotoku indicated that the final was far from perfect but nevertheless acknowledged they achieved the result they wanted.
“We got a very nice result and we played the best but we have a lot of problems. And we have to continue the training,” he said.
Macau coach Tam Iao San agreed that Nepal deserved to win the championship as a side equipped with physical and individual ability as well as speed.
“Congratulations to Nepal! They have a better performance and they create more chances in front of the goal,” said Tam in a post-match interview.
“It’s also a good day for us to learn and hopefully we can improve in the future,” he said.
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