Caption: The national under-18 football team starting XI in one of their friendly matches in Japan. Picture: Courtesy of NFABD
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
BRUNEI are off to Myanmar for the AFF (ASEAN Football Federation) Under-18 Championship after completing their warm-up tour in Japan.
The national under-18 team contested in four friendly matches against Japanese sides as part of their preparations where they went up against fifth-tier (J5) side Amitie, top-tier (J1) under-18 teams Cerezo Osaka and Vissel Kobe. The other game was against Hotoku High School.
Coached by Takao Fujiwara, the team have been training together for more than half a year.
The Sultanate are drawn in Group B at the annual AFF U-18 Championship and will open their campaign against the Philippines in Yangon on Tuesday.
They will then take on Vietnam two days later before facing off against the hosts next Saturday.
The national under-18 team will then close out group stage play against Indonesia on Sept 13.
On the other hand, Group A are made up of Thailand, Malaysia Timor Leste, Laos, Cambodia and Singapore.
This is the seventh appearance for Brunei at the competition where they have never made it out of the group stage.
Australia are the defending champions after defeating Thailand 5-1 in the final in Vietnam last year.
