Brunei Darussalam national football team is keen and in good spirits with their upcoming international camp in Saudi Arabia, as part of their preparation for the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup (AMEC) slated in November.
The two-week training is set to kick off from 28 May until 14 June involving senior team players in several friendly matches with the development team of Saudi and local clubs in Jeddah.
In an interview with The Bruneian, the General Secretary of Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (FABD) said prior to that, the team is meeting with the Malaysian team in a friendly match upon invitation by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).
“The objective (of the matches) is to expose our senior national team players in preparation for AMEC where we will be playing against Timor-Lester in November, InsyaAllah,” said Mohammad Shahnon Haji Mohd Salleh.
For the friendly match’s preparation, the team has been doing several intensive training for the past month under the care of headcoach Haji Md Rosanan Abdullah Samak.
“Initially, we were supposed to play a friendly against Afghanistan however the arrangement did not pull through as they are preparing for the Asian Cup.
We are content with the support we receive from the Saudi Arabian Football Federation… (the trip) is also part of our MoU with them,” he added.
The executives of FABD’s visit to Malaysia, a day after the national team’s departure, was an invitation by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) that aimed to look deeper into the governance and development of football.
For his part, FABD’s spokesperson Waqiuddin Rajak said the training camp which includes sparring sessions in Jeddah which are hoped to improve the team’s cooperation and skills as well as to familiarise themselves with the international field.
“We are looking forward to their spars against several Saudi clubs and hoped that it gives the team a good exposure and experience leading to AMEC,” he said.
Some 25 national players are set to depart for Jeddah involving teammates from various clubs namely, DPMM FC, MS PPDB, Kasuka FC, MS ABDB, Indera SC, Kota Ranger FC and MS PPDB.
THE BRUNEIAN | BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
