| James Kon |
BRUNEI Darussalam youth footballers Muhammad Danish Izz Syahmi bin Md Bahrin and Mohd Danish Ataullah bin Md Riduwan were proud to be the first Bruneians to carry the nation’s flag at the opening ceremony of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Moscow, Russia.
During their training session at the global Football for Friendship (F4F) programme, they noticed that the level of football of other countries were higher when compared to Brunei.
The F4F programme, supported by Gazprom and FIFA, aims to develop youth football and a healthy lifestyle as well as promoting tolerance, open-mindedness and respect of different cultures and nationalities between children across the globe.
This is the first time Brunei Darussalam participated in the programme for U12 footballers from 210 countries.
Mohd Danish Ataullah played three matches as a goalkeeper in the Gazprom Football for Friendship International Championship, managing a clean sheet.
Meanwhile Muhammad Danish Izz Syahmi was in Russia as a young journalist reporting on local and global activities of the F4F programme as part of the International Children’s Press Centre. There, he was taught how to be a football reporter.
The Brunei delegation and their families met with local press yesterday at the National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (NFABD) House to talk about their trip and experience.
Mohd Danish Ataullah said, “We did training and learned about friendship through football at the F4F programme. I noticed that young international players had better discipline and more intense training when compared to Brunei. They are also bigger and taller and can hit the ball with more power and precision.”
NFABD Under-14 Head Coach Mohd Ikhmarol Izzat bin Haji Omar was the head of delegation during the programme. Mohd Ikhmarol Izzat had recently received his Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ‘A’ Coaching licence and is the youngest licence holder in Asia.
The 26-year-old, who is hoping to receive his AFC Professional Coaching Diploma in the near future and become a professional coach, said, “Brunei needs to step up its efforts in developing football. We are behind when compared to other countries. If we start doubling our efforts, we can close the gap.
“We need to change the culture and get parents to be more involved in the children’s football progression. At the same time, coaches should also be allowed to guide and train young footballers.”
In Russia, “we managed to mingle with participants, parents and coaches participating in the programme. We learned a lot in terms of football performance and mindset,” he added.
Meanwhile, Projek Ikan Pusu (PIP) Under-14 Coach Mohd Adi Shahirol Izzat bin Haji Omar hopes that parents can support their children in developing their football skills alongside focus on academic achievements.
“Both sports and education are important. However, children can still have fun doing sports while being good at academics.”
Md Bahrin and Md Riduwan, the fathers of Muhammad Danish Izz Syahmi and Mohd Danish Ataullah, expressed their pride that their children were selected to go for Russia.
They thanked the coach and manager of PIP for the trust given to the players to attend F4F and develop their football skills.
PIP Head Coach Haji Omar bin Haji Jamil hopes that there will be more football academies established in Brunei to produce a bigger pool of talent and help NFABD in the selection of quality players.
Manager of PIP Cheah Swee Ming said, “It takes a village to raise one child and football is similar to that child. PIP can’t do everything on our own. We need the support from parents, schools, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, and NFABD. Internationally, we also need support from the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), AFC and FIFA. We can raise the development level of football if we all work together.”
“It is important for them to start young. There is a gap between what Bruneians and international players can do at junior level. If we don’t put in the effort now, the gap will only increase. PIP is currently working on a junior football league for Under-10s and Under-12s. The youngest PIP participant is a three-year-old. The key to the Brunei’s football future is our children. We must increase the number of young players,” he added.
The manager, on behalf of PIP, expressed his thanks to to His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah as President of NFABD for grassroots football development.
NFABD received recognition from the AFC when they were awarded with the Grassroots Award for Aspiring Member Association in 2016.