DILI (26 Aug 2018) – Timor Leste will be looking for a comfortable advantage when they take on Brunei DS in the first leg, qualifying round of the AFF Suzuki Cup this Saturday at the KLFA Stadium in Cheras.
Francisco Geronimo, the newly elected President of the FA of Timor Leste (FFTL), said that it is important that the team not only play well but also look for comfortable lead for the return tie a week later.
“We need to have a cushion for the return game. That is the most important factor for us as we will be playing ‘at home’ first,” said Francisco.
“The team has been training hard for the last three months under head coach Shuki Otachi from Japan,” said Francisco after the AFF Council meeting on Saturday.
“We are working on a few aspects of our game and where the concern now is on our own preparation and not how Brunei will be.
“Of course we want to do well in the qualifiers and make the final rounds of the AFF Suzuki Cup. That is the target for sure.”
Other than training camps at home in Dili with fitness work as the priority, the team also had a handful of players taking part at the Asian Games in Indonesia.
And considering that Timor Leste were in a tough group against the heavyweights China, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Syria, still they were not overawed.
They still managed to knock in three goals en route to picking up some valuable experience playing against physical opponents.
“Those who played at the Asian Games would have had some good exposure and we are counting on them to be competitive,” added Francisco.
The winner of the two-legged qualifiers will be placed in Group B of the Final Rounds of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 against Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore.
Group A are Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.
