| Fadhil Yunus |
BRUNEI Darussalam under-15 national team manager Morni Zakaria highlighted that the young charges can compete with other countries following their promising campaign in the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Under-15 Youth Championship at Chonburi, Thailand.
The under-15 national team ended the campaign in fourth place with five points, winning once in the process as well as two draws and two losses.
The current generation etched their name into age group folklore after tasting victory for the first time in six appearances at under-15 level.
“The Brunei under-15 team can compete with other nations,” said Morni in an interview with the Bulletin shortly after the team and officials arrived from Bangkok, Thailand at the Brunei International Airport in the wee hours of Thursday morning.
Morni predicted that the young charges may had a long and trying campaign but nevertheless the national juniors sprung a surprise or two.
The team manager indicated that with a little stroke of luck they could have converted the draws into victories and a loss into a draw including the game against Group ‘B’ winners Vietnam.
“We thought we would receive a footballing lesson but once we shared the same pitch with Timor Leste, we could have won by five or six goals. We also missed a penalty,” continued Morni.
“Against Vietnam we nearly drew the game only to have conceded with a last-gasp winner. We were under pressure but the players showed that they can compete with their opponents.”
The team manager also revealed that they fell short against Malaysia owing to injuries to three main players in the squad as well as errors littering in the game.
Morni elaborated that the Cambodia match was the highlight of the tournament after posting a historic 2-0 win at the Chonburi Campus Stadium.
“The team was great against Cambodia. We, the coaching staff and management provided our full support not only through motivation but every morning outside their accommodation we provide motivation and recite Al-Fatihah in order for us to achieve success,” said Morni.
The rejuvenated young Wasps came into the match against Philippines knowing that a victory could help them pip Cambodia into third place if results went their way.
“We targeted that we can win against the Philippines. We can score a lot of goals but unfortunately luck was not on our side.
“As team manager, I feel proud and happy because the under-15 national team can enhance the dignity of the country this year.”
The national under-15 team will be preparing for the AFC qualifiers this September.
He continued that exposure in boosting their game is fully important and continuous training must be maintained.
“One of the benefits was that we arrived in advance to take part in friendly games against two leading clubs (Chonburi FC under-15s and Bangkok Glass under-15s) in Thailand.”
The team manager added that they used all the players to find out which players would start in the first game against Timor Leste.
Morni advised the young charges should play more friendly games and compete in international competitions, adding that he saw potential to lift their game with the players in par with other countries.
Morni also shared that an AFF representative stated the Brunei under-15s have been improving and did not expect their good showing in the competition.
“We lost by a small margin during both matches. It is a good approach to play in friendly matches when we play international competitions,” said the team manager.
Present at the Brunei International Airport to welcome the under-15 national team was Pengiran Mohd Amirrizal bin Pengiran Haji Mahmud, Acting General Secretary of National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (NFABD).
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