The current Asean Football Federation (AFF) Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022 campaign moves to Manila as Brunei Darussalam will play against the Philippines tomorrow evening. The national team arrived in Manila yesterday, one day after the game against Thailand in Kuala Lumpur.
The players have had their training in the Philippines capital under the watchful eyes of coach Mario Rivera and Team Manager Pengiran Haji Mohd Waslimin bin Pengiran Setia Jaya Pengiran Haji Abdul Momin. According to the manager, he is confident that the Brunei team have the cutting edge in giving the Philippines a good fight. “Today’s training regime is rather light after the game with Thailand, but the fighting spirit is always there among the players and win the game,” he said.
Coach Mario said his players are ready and will give their very performance both in defence and attack. On the state of mental readiness he said, “The players already reset their mind and they are focussing only on the Philippines match. On physical, we are still in the post 48 hours of the last game. For the players involved, they are in the process of re-energising because with the flight we could not sleep enough. But for tomorrow, we will be fine and we will have fresh legs in the field.”
The pitch at the Rizal Memorial Stadium is artificial. Commenting on the pitch condition, Mario said, “The pitch could be a small advantage to the host team, but it cannot be an excuse. Our players have trained some times in Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (FABD) artificial pitch and we can play in this kind of pitch.”
The Philippines were beaten by Cambodia in the game last Tuesday.
Coach Mario said, “It would be bad because they will be eager to get three points as us, and good because their objective is to win AFF. For that, they need three points and they will risk attacking.”
