| Fadhil Yunus |
BRUNEI Darussalam under-15 national team ended the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Under-15 Youth Championship in fourth place following a stalemate against Philippines in Group ‘B’ at the Chonburi Campus Stadium 2 in Chonburi, Thailand yesterday.
The young Wasps missed an opportunity to leapfrog Cambodia in third place, who lost 4-2 to Malaysia, with victory enough to see them pip the Kouprey Blue by a single point.
However, the Brunei under-15s still created a new milestone after accomplishing their best point tally at this age group level with five points, just a point shy of their nearest rivals.
The current generation also amassed four points more than the previous team which set the benchmark for the best point tally with one in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2015.
Brunei under-15s have also tasted victory for the first time in the 2-0 win over the Kouprey Blue after six appearances since joining the competition for the first time in 2002.
The Philippines draw marked their second clean sheet of the tournament following their efforts against Timor Leste in the opening fixture.
Brunei also ended the tournament with three goals scored and five goals conceded making it their best showing in their history in the competition.
Under-15 national team head coach Stephen Ng said that it was not easy for his young guns after playing their fifth game in nine days.
“Our boys continued their good momentum from the last game to dominate almost the entire game, creating many chances in both sides of the half, but was unlucky not to find the net today,” Stephen said.
“Overall our boys did well for a young side that finished the group stage with five played, one win, two draws and two losses.”
“We also scored three goals and conceded five,” the head coach further added.
He also highlighted the team’s disciplinary record with only two bookings in five games.
The team will continue their training and will be hoping to continue their promising work as they gear towards the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifiers in September.
“The next stage for the team is to continue training and playing at this level of international game intensity and to prepare well for the AFC qualifiers in September,” the head coach said.
Meanwhile, Vietnam sealed top spot in Group B after thumping sorry Timor Leste 4-0.