Caption: An Indonesian player gets a shot off while Brunei goalkeeper Ak Muhd Amirul Hakim Pg Zulkarnain (L) tries to stop him. Picture: Courtesy of Myanmar Football Federation
Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
BRUNEI ended their Group B campaign at the AFF (ASEAN Football Federation) Under-18 Championship in Myanmar with an 8-0 hammering at the hands of Indonesia yesterday.
The national under-18 football team placed fourth in the five-team table - just above the Philippines - with three points but conceded the most goals in the entire tournament with a staggering 25 goals from four matches.
Indonesia finished as group winners with nine points with just a one goal difference from both Myanmar and Vietnam.
The hosts go through on a better head-to-head after edging Vietnam 2-1 in the final group match last night.
Contested at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon, Indonesia only needed 42 seconds to break the deadlock with Rafli Mursalim finding the back of the net after some hesistant defending by the Brunei backline.
Indonesia made it 3-0 with back-to-back goals by Egy Maulana Vikri in the space of four minutes.
It was 4-0 in the 40th minute after a good strike by Witan Suleiman from the edge of the area.
Asnawi Mangkualam Bahar (C) of Indonesia defended by two Brunei players. Picture: Courtesy of Myanmar Football Federation
Rafli completed his hat-trick just before the halftime whistle with two quick fire goals, first heading home a cross from the right before slotting home another from inside the box.
Witan made it 7-0 in the 67th minute after heading home off a corner.
Indonesia completed the rout the next minute after Saddil Ramdani had his shot parried by Brunei goalkeeper Ak Muhd Amirul Hakim Pg Zulkarnain.
However, it only went to as far as Egy Maulana, who cutback to Hanis Saghara Putra for a simple tap in.
“No team goes into a game thinking of a loss,” said national under-18 football coach Takao Fujiwara after the defeat as quoted on the AFF website.
“We tried very hard today (Wednesday) but Indonesia were just too organised,” he added.
Next on the calendar for the team is the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Under-19 Championship qualifiers from Oct 31 - Nov 8.
The Sultanate are drawn in Group F together with qualifiers hosts South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Timor Leste.
