THE BRUNEI FACTOR

Aminuddin said that with Brunei deciding to hire a South Korean coach to guide their youth team; it has made the fight in the group a lot keener.

“We don’t know much about Brunei but one thing is certain and that is the new coach will make the team a lot more organised,” said Aminuddin.

“And that means we cannot expect Brunei to be the same team they have been in the past which makes them a lot more unpredictable.

“Luckily for us we will have the chance to watch them play first and from there we can probably pick up a few pointers.”

For the championship this year, the Malaysian team have been placed in Group A against Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand while Group B are Singapore, Vietnam, Timor Leste, Laos and Myanmar.

Aminuddin said that the current Malaysian side have played against host Cambodia and Indonesia – the other teams in Group A – at the AFC Asian Festival of Football last year.

They drew scoreless with Cambodia while in the next match against Indonesia, they were held to a 2-2 deadlock.

“Thailand will always be a handful so we are not expecting an easy tournament for sure,” added Aminuddin.

“But the players have had a good outing at the Arsenal tournament recently where they finished second, so we should be a lot more competitive.”

PIC: Aminuddin Hussin

MALAYSIA UNDER-17 SQUAD

ZULFADHLI MOHAMED, MUHAMMAD SUKURI MOHD RAHIM, MOHAMMAD AMER SAIDIN, MOHD ALIF FADHIL ISMAIL, SAIFUL RIDZUWAN SELAMAT, D. SAARVINDRAN, MUHAMMAD FUAD MAMAT, MOHAMAD FANDI OTHMAN, SABRI SAHAR, AHMAD SAIDI, MUHAMMAD AMINUDDIN AZMI, IFFI AFINAZ ISMAIL, MOHD HAIZRUL ASMIEL SHAMSUL, MOHAMAD HAKIM ZAINOL, GOH JUNG SERN, MOHAMAD AMINUDDIN MOHD SAMKI, MUHAMMAD ARIFF ZULKIFLY, IDRIS ZOHRIN.