SURABAYA (30 July 2018) – A battling Laos side had to pull out all the stops before they were able to beat Brunei DS 3-2 in pulsating Group B opener of the AFF Under-16 Championship at the Joko Samudro Stadium.
In the match that could have gone either way, a single mistake in the Brunei defence in the second half gifted the full points to Laos.
“For some of the players, it was their first international, so it was natural that they made some mistakes,” said Laos head coach Kanlaya Sysomvang.
“But we will be better in the next match although there will be some changes to the squad when we take on Singapore.”
The game was just 50seconds old before Brunei got the first goal of the match in emphatic fashion when Mohd Idzzaham Metali knocked in the cross from Mohammad Eddy Shahrol Omar from the right.
But Laos did not lose focus as they kept pressing Brunei for the equaliser and it came in the 12th minute with Soubanh Keopheth floating in the cross that was headed home by Anantaza Siphongphan.
And just nine minutes later, Laos went ahead for the first time in the match with Lekto Aphay scoring from close as Brunei then replied with two minutes remaining of the first half with a header from Muhammad Hakeme Yazid Said.
The match went up a gear into the second half and it took Laos just eight minutes to score their third goal of the game and what turned out to be the winner with captain Chony Wenpaserth weaving past a sleeping Brunei defence to score.
A flurry of yellow cards followed afterwards as Brunei became increasingly desperate to find the equaliser as Loas look to protect their lead.
Chony came close to putting the game beyond reach but he totally muffed his attempt with only Brunei keeper to beat.
“We lacked a little bit of experience as half of the players are 14 or 15-years-old,” said Brunei head coach Stephen Ng.
