BRUNEI Darussalam’s national team and Mongolia will have the honour to kick off the road to Qatar when they clash in the first leg tie of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1 at the MFF Football Centre in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia today.

The Wasps have safely arrived at the Mongolian capital for their final training preparations ahead of the qualifiers on the back of an eight-day training camp in China.

The full squad finally trained together including the DPMM FC players, who have only recently linked up with their international teammates after their club commitments.

The national team played a friendly match against Beijing Sport University where they emerged victorious 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out after neither side could be separated in normal time.

“Mongolia will be the favourite team for this two-legged game. But, we have a clear plan. We take into consideration that Mongolia will probably be a little bit stronger than us so tactics are built around that,” said Brunei head coach Robbie Servais at the press conference.

The Dutchman, who boasts coaching experience specialising in Asian football through his stint with academies in Japan, insisted that pressure lies with Mongolia.

“The pressure is more on Mongolia because they start with the home game so that works in our advantage and we will take advantage of that situation.”

The head coach also clarified on the situation regarding Leicester City player Faiq Jefri Bolkiah, who is not part of the 23-member squad.

“As far as the player from Leicester City, he was slightly injured so he could not make it for the first game. But I prefer to work with one team all the way through because all the players have to get used to my tactics.

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“If they are not with me, I cannot teach them my philosophy and my ideas so although he is a good player from Leicester, if I get him only when we arrive in Brunei, that’s too late for me to show him, what I want in my team.

“So I need to be with a team for a long time to build my relations with the players and also to teach them my idea of football and my game plan.”

The first of the two-legged tie against the East Asian side represents Brunei’s first international match since the 3-2 aggregate defeat against Timor Leste in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup qualifying last September.

Meanwhile, Mongolia will not take their opponents lightly despite being billed as favourite by Servais.

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Mongolia National Head Coach Michael Weiss, who took over the Blue Wolves in 2017, is happy with his team’s preparations after a 10-day training camp in Phuket, Thailand.

“Brunei Darussalam has a strong team and they are definitely not a team to underestimate. We have to be prepared. We have to be confident, but not for one single second must we underestimate our opponents,” the German was quoted as saying by AFC.

“The Brunei Darussalam team have to travel first and back again for the second leg. I don’t know if it will be an advantage, but we are ready for the match. We go into the match thinking about doing well and with confidence.”

The Blue Wolves will look to snap a run of three games without a victory during the second preliminary round of the 2019 East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Football Championship last November.

|     Fadhil Yunus     |

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