BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (8 March 2012) – The Indonesia national Under-21 squad is looking at winning this year’s Hassanal Bokiah Trophy (HBT) as a remedy for the nation’s disappointment at being thrashed 10-0 in a World Cup qualifying match last week.
Indonesia, the meet’s inaugural champions in 2002, will take on Brunei in the final of the HBT 2012 tomorrow night at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.
“Winning the tournament will add lustre to the team which in turn will bury the nightmare of us losing to Bahrain recently,” said Hasrul Azwar, the team manager of the Indonesia U21 team.
“We would like to show that this team is not a hastily assembled side but one which is comprised of the best U21 players from Indonesia.”
In the meantime, Brunei feel confident that they can win their first ever HBT tomorrow night. Team manager Hj Feisal Hj Eusoff said that after overcoming several obstacles in the run-up to the tournament, beating Myanmar in the semi-final was the pivotal point.
“We have overcome so many obstacles such as during the start of training and during puasa (fasting month). There were so many barriers but (all our efforts) have paid off,” said an emotional Hj Feisal.
“We would like to thank the Almighty God for helping us win the semi-final match and of course the crowd was fantastic right from the start of the match.
“It really boosted the players and the Royal family really joined in the crowd in supporting us. We are really thankful for that. This is the best performance by a Brunei team and we beat a respectable team like Myanmar.”
