BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (15 July 2014) –Just days after declaring that the 5th Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy will be held next month, Brunei team manager Feisal Eusoff has declared that the defending champions are not ready for the biennial championship.
Brunei were the winners in 2012 when they beat Indonesia in the final.
“The players’ fitness is still not at the level that it should be and we have yet to decide our first eleven, let alone choosing the final 18 squad,” said Feisal.
“Some key players are injured, there is no need to mention names here. The point is that we are far from ready for this tournament.”
For the meet slated for 9-23 August, Brunei are in Group B against Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.
Group A are Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Timor Leste and two-time champions Thailand.
“We did not have enough exposure games especially playing against teams from outside Brunei,” he added.
“We managed to get a number of friendly games against the local clubs, but it is still not enough to help push our players to improve their fitness and this is why we need to play more exposure games outside.
“I heard people are talking that we are targeting to be in the semi-final and some say we are looking to retain the cup again but that is not coming from me. But again, of course we would want that, but right now we are still the underdogs.”
