The Brunei Darussalam national football team will kick off their campaign in the 2027 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup third qualifying round against Lebanon at the Saoud bin Abdulrahman Stadium in Al-Wakrah in Qatar today.
The Wasps are currently undergoing final training preparations ahead of the highly-anticipated Group ‘B’ clash. The 23 member strong squad was put to their paces as they look to showcase a decent performance in their first appearance of the year.
Lebanon will be heavily fancied to attain maximum points but technical director cum national head coach Fabio Maciel will hope this charges can provide some resistance.
The Middle Eastern side have qualified in the last two editions while Brunei will be keen to use this exposure to develop the level and standard of the players. The two sides will battle it out for the first time with Lebanon, 72 places ranked ahead of Brunei, no doubt eager to boost their chances with a resounding win.
A notable addition to the squad is forward Adi Said who was recalled after last featuring for the team during the World Cup qualifiers against Indonesia. The Kasuka attacker may have the record of the country’s leading goal scorer in his sights as he is a goal shy away of equaling the haul set by Shahrazen Said and Azwan Ali Rahman with eight each.
The national team also saw four players comprising Amirul Aizad Zaidi, Azrin Danial Yusra, Wafiq Danish Hasimulabdillah and Syafiq Hilmi Shahrom receiving their first senior call-ups. The Southeast Asian outfit reached the third round of qualifying for the first time following a historic two-legged win over Macau in the play-off round.
The qualified teams will secure a spot in the main phase of the competition slated to be held in Saudi Arabia in 2027. – Fadhil Yunus
