| Fadhil Yunus |
BRUNEI Darussalam national under-21 head coach Mario Riviera Campesino felt that his charges were overcome by nerves during their 1-0 defeat to Timor Leste in the opening Group ‘A’ match of the Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy (HBT) for the ASEAN Youth Football Tournament 2018 at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium on Monday.
With the hosts trying to find their feet, their game, however, was littered by a series of misplaced passes in the earlier exchanges as they looked to make an initiative of initiating an attack.
“I think in the first half our players were very nervous and we made some mistakes. We were better than them in the second half but Timor Leste is a very good team. It is very difficult for us to have opportunities,” said Mario during the post-match press conference.
The Spanish coach also indicated that nervousness may have hindered their ability to cause problems in the final third of the opposition’s goal.
“In the last third, you need to be very precise and subtle with the ball and if you are nervous, it is more difficult,” he said.
Brunei team manager Zahrin bin Haji Zunaidi said over-excitement may have affected their play adding that they fell short of expectations in their finishing.
“The thing we need to ensure is that the players should not be overexcited. If you are overexcited, then you start to forget what you should be doing,” said Zahrin.
“We tried our best especially in the second half but I agree that our finishing was not what we expected. I think the coach and the rest of the team will look into it for the next game.”
Meanwhile, Timor Leste head coach Eduardo Pereira admitted that Brunei had good opportunities and praised their footwork, however, there were certain areas which needed to be addressed.
The head coach revealed that he approached the game with counter-attacking football.
He added that his charges, who avenged a 1-0 defeat in 2012, instilled high spirits although Brunei were backed with a strong home support.
Pereira will be hoping that his side will fully recover before a crucial tie against Myanmar tomorrow, where a win is likely to take them through to the knockout stages.
The post Brunei nervous in first half, says head coach appeared first on Borneo Bulletin Online.