| Fadhil Yunus |
BRUNEI Darussalam’s national under-15 team fell to an emphatic 9-0 defeat to Group ‘F’ favourites North Korea in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-16 qualifiers at the Fu Jen Catholic University Stadium in New Taipei City yesterday.
Aiming to recover from a heart-breaking 2-1 loss to hosts Taipei in the second group game despite launching barrage of attacks for large periods of the game, North Korea, who flexed their muscle as one of the region powerhouses at this level, were on a different planet.
It took the North Koreans six minutes to open their account through Ri Hun before Kim Kang-song doubled their lead in the 12th minute.
It got worse for the young Wasps as Kim Won-il netted a third only a minute later.
Riding on their wave of dominance, Ra Nam-hyon added a fourth in the 22nd minute before Won-il grabbed his second of the game.
Kim Jun-hyok and Kang-song also got on the act to ensure that the ‘Chollima Football Team’ entered the break with an astonishing 7-0 lead.
The Bruneians did restrict the North Koreans from scoring an abundance of goals in the second half with only Ko Chang-ung who scored four minutes after the restart and Won-il who completed his hat-trick finding the net in the 60th minute evading the goal.
Brunei Darussalam’s national under-15 head coach Stephen Ng admitted the gulf in class and quality between both opponents and emphasised that his young charges should hold their heads high after putting a brave fight.
“For those who watched the game today, you would have known that it was a very tough game with the big football gap between the two teams,” said Ng.
“There is no shame on our team as our boys fought well and gave everything they had; no head went down today and we tried our utmost best to compete.
“We will learn from the humble lesson and with the proper support, will continue to improve and hope to one day play the Koreans again on a more level playing field,” he said.
The national junior side, who remain in fourth place, will conclude their group stage play against Hong Kong tomorrow.
The young Wasps began the qualifying campaign with an inspiring 4-0 win over Macau before falling to their first loss against Taipei.
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