| Fadhil Yunus |
BRUNEI Darussalam national futsal team earned their first victory at the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Futsal Championship 2017 after trouncing Philippines 5-0 at the Phu Tho Indoor Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam yesterday.
The Wasps confirmed fourth place in Group ‘A’ after registering their first goals in the competition and subsequently their first points and clean sheet.
Brunei finally got their first goal of the tournament after captain Maziri Maidin struck a fierce shot with Philippines goalkeeper Ricardo I Padilla Jr unable to keep the ball out.
Maziri also forced the Philippines goalkeeper to push the ball upwards as he unleashed a drive in the opposition’s half.
Yamin Muhammad combined well with Azizan bin Roslan with the former hitting his shot on straight at the Philippines shot-stopper who pushed the ball away to safety.
Brunei goalkeeper Nabil Maidin nearly ran the entire length of the pitch and won a set-piece for his team after Philippines’ player Alexus Judd Villacrucis was adjudged to have unfairly budged him by the referee.
The Azkals fashioned their best chance of the first half after Julian Pio Miranda released Francis Michael Fuentes but the latter’s shot from a tight angle was dealt with by Nabil.
Brunei’s Faiz Hasnan picked out Abi Syarillizam Sabtu whose shot was parried away by the goalkeeper.
The Wasps had a great chance to double the lead after Fakhri Bangkul laid a neat pass to an unmarked Maziri but the captain contrived to hit his shot straight at Ricardo.
The Azkals were playing on the edge after a careless play put Fakhri through but the shot had no conviction to get past the goalkeeper.
Abi Syarillizam nearly found Naqib Timbang with the return pass after both had underlined their attacking threat but the goalkeeper had a touch to deny them from doubling their lead.
Brunei could have gotten an early goal in the second half but forward Abdul Azim Boll Hassan could not keep his composure after doing fine work finding space and leaving Ryan James Haosen in his wake.
Yamin spotted the run of Naqib and flicked the ball into his path before the Kota Junior man deceived a Filipino defender by feigning a shot before taking an extra touch to coolly dispatch the ball past Ricardo.
The Bruneians suffered a setback after Maziri was hauled off the pitch due to injury.
Brunei’s third goal illustrated a rare sight of their attacking prowess as Philippines’s captain Roberto Orlandez Jr was caught out of position. Faiz showed quick reaction to spot his lack of positioning before advancing on the right hand side and latching onto a nicely weighted ball from substitute Pengiran Md Hanis Marzuqi to make it 3-0.
It proved a tactical masterstroke from national futsal coach as Pengiran Md Hanis only took 22 seconds to make an instant impression since he was introduced into the fray with an assist.
Alexus had a sight on goal but messed up his footing though he was put under pressure by a well marshalled Bruneian defence.
Nabil bravely denied Luis Miguel Cacho by leaning forward to put the player off and ended up needing treatment in the process.
Abdul Azim was unlucky not to get in the score-sheet after grazing the post from a tight angle before Raimi Rashid ballooned his attempt.
The Bruneian team was nearly punished from Fakhri’s poor control but Philippines’ Lorenzo Hermosa could not make full use with Nabil coming to the rescue.
Raimi added a fourth for the Wasps after latching onto a pass from Abdul Azim before Yamin’s attempt bound for the top corner was acrobatically saved by the Filipino goalkeeper.
Brunei completed the scoring to make it an even emphatic score-line as Faiz squeezed in a shot from a tight angle after receiving a pass from Arif Eisa.
The Azkals missed the best chance yet to register their first goal in the competition as Faiz performed his defensive duties at the back denying Dominic Ganas on the line.
The post Brunei earn first win against Philippines appeared first on Borneo Bulletin Online.