BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Brunei became the first country to book a semi-final berth in the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Solidarity Cup 2016 after Timor Leste and Nepal played out to a 0-0 draw at the Negeri Stadium in Kuching last night.

The 4-0 win over Timor Leste on Wednesday was enough to see the national team march into the last four, even before taking on Nepal at the Sarawak Stadium on Tuesday.

The result means that coach Kwon Oh-son can rest their first-team players in their final group stage match, but national skipper Rosmin Hj Md Kamis said that they will close out the group strongly and try to win against Nepal.

“I don’t think that coach Kwon will rest the first team players for the Nepal match because he wants to field a stronger team against them as we have never played them before,” said Rosmin in an interview with The Brunei Times last night.

“We had a good start in this tournament and we hope to continue that and we surely want to finish this group match strongly.

“Nepal is a very good team, but we want to show to everyone in this tournament that we are the team to watch,” added Rosmin, who will retire from international football after this campaign.

Timor Leste started the game strongly with Henrique Cruz firing from outside the area in the opening 10 minutes but neither attempt, came close to trouble Nepalese goalkeeper Kiran Kumar Limbu.

They made four changes from the team that lost to Brunei, with Cruz, Nataniel Reis, Jose Lopes and Frangcyatma Kefi starting the game replacing Adelino Oliveira, Jorge Victor, Silveiro Garcia and suspended Rufinho Gama.

Nawayug Shrestha and Anjan Bista came close to score for Nepal in a number of occasions but 19-year-old Timor Leste goalkeeper Fernandes Aderito was in brilliant form throughout.

Nepal pressed for goals early in the second-half with Bista and Bikram Lama combining well in the attack, but they just couldn’t find the target. Ananta Tamang struck the goal post with a header following Bista’s cross from the left before Bharat Khawas shot went just wide in the final few minutes of the game.

Timor-Leste held on to ensure a share of the points and pray Brunei will beat Nepal with more than a four goal margin for a hope of qualifying into the semi-final.

The tournament continues today with group B matches.

Laos will take on Macau at the Sarawak Stadium, while, Sri Lanka will meet Mongolia at the Negeri Stadium.

The Brunei Times