National under-14 teams
Sunday, June 8, 2008
UNDEFEATED in eight matches, the national Under-14 football team returned home from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-14 Festival of Football in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah yesterday after having created history as the only team in this year's competition to not suffer a loss.
Coming up with five wins and three draws, the national team's most impressive result was probably their 3-2 win against Indonesia on Thursday.
Arriving at the Co-Curriculum field in Gadong to a rousing reception from parents, relatives, friends and supporters, also present at the venue were Pg Hj Matusin Pg Hj Matasan, secretary-general of Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (Bafa) and Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah, Bafa Council Member.
"Bafa is very pleased with the Under-14 team which has returned undefeated, and for the record, Brunei Darussalam is the only team in the competition that went undefeated after all eight matches," said a happy Pg Hj Matusin.
"Even Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar and Timor Leste were not able to maintain a clean slate.
"This is really historic for Brunei football and I hope this will be the start of a new and better chapter for us," added the secretary-general.
After defeating Laos 1-0 last Sunday, the team beat the Philippines 2-0 but were held to a 1-1 stalemate against Timor Leste later that day. They continued their good form with a 2-0 win against Singapore and a 1-1 draw against Vietnam the next day.
They were then forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against Myanmar on Thursday before their match against Indonesia their last match where they won 3-2.
"I am very pleased that the boys were very disciplined on and off the field, besides being very fit and committed," said team manager Hj Hassan Hj Kahar yesterday.
"By constantly going for the ball at each and every opportunity, we upset the rhythm of our opponents who were much bigger than our players, and that was definitely one big factor accounting for our effectiveness," he added.
Courtesy of The Brunei Times
