BY James Kon
Football fans in Brunei Darussalam are welcome to watch and support the national team as they face Laos in the final international friendly game of the Tri Nations at the Track and Field of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex today.
This was said by senior team’s head coach Mario Rivera Campesino during a press conference on Monday, adding that the team are doing their best to fight for victory.
“It is important that local fans come out to support the team. The fans should be proud of them,” the Spaniard said.
Laos head coach Michael Weiss, who is also the former Mongolian head coach, is hoping for a huge turnout. He recalled how Brunei fans were very spirited in the match against his old side three years ago.
Laos lost 3-1 against Maldives in their previous match, and Weiss said, “It was an unnecessary lost for us. We gave the ball away too much. We have to correct our mistakes and improve our game better against Brunei.”
Despite losing to Maldives, Campesino said that Laos are a good team with good players.
“We are expecting a tough game against them. They played well against Maldives. It’s a 50/50 game, if we can play well, we have a chance to win the game,” he said.
The new head coach said they had undertaken more training sessions after the Maldives game.
“We learnt several mistakes and we need to correct them especially ball movement in the box. We need to keep up with the intensity and keep possession of the ball,” Campesino added.
Meanwhile, the Laos head coach said, “I cannot make predictions of the match against Brunei. At the end of the day, the answer is on the pitch. From my point of view, it is important that we need to play well.”
The Football Association of Brunei Darussalam is selling tickets priced at BND5 each for the Brunei-Laos match. Children below 16 years are allowed to enter free-of-charge.
Those who have bought BND10 tickets earlier are entitled for a second ticket. Seats are limited and will be on a first come first serve basis.
-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin