World Soccer - UK (2021-03)

runei Darussalam, one

of Asia and the world’s

most inactive national

teams, is preparing for

a step-up in activity.

The oil-rich

sultanate located on the north east

coast of Borneo is expected to enter

the Asian Football Federation

Championship, also known as the Suzuki

Cup, for only the second time in 2021.

Brunei’s only other appearance

was in1996 and the country has only

entered World Cup qualifying four times.

This inactivity was partly due to being

suspended by FIFA in 2009 for two

years due to government interference.

The Hornets have entered the last

two World Cups and in qualifying for

Russia 2018 finally won a match,

beating Taiwan1-0, only to then lose on

aggregate. Dutch coach Robbie Servais

emulated this feat in the 2022 World

Cup qualifiers, beating Mongolia 2-1, but

lost 3-2 on aggregate inJune 2019.

Brunei have not played since.

“All the best local players play

for Brunei’s top club DPMM in the

S-League in Singapore, but when

I arrived their relationship with the

association was not good and one by

one they dropped out,” says Servais, who

was only there for the qualifiers and is

now back in Netherlands with Maastricht.

“So I had to start working with

reserve players from DPMM and players

from the local amateur league. The

technical level was not great so I had to

build a team with good spirit.

“In Mongolia we had no chance, but it

was crazy back home. There were nearly

20,000 people there and they played

the game of their lives. It was a big

shame as Mongolia went on to play

in a group withJapan. The exposure

would have been fantastic.”

Getting back to work

Brunei have only played five matches in the last four years

WORLD SERVICE

The withdrawal of all12 DPMM

players selected in Servais’ initial

16-man squad, as Brunei’s top club

were on the way to winning their

second S-League title, was

particularly frustrating.

DPMM, who are owned by Brunei’s

Crown Prince Al Muhtadee Billah, quit

the local league in 2004 to play in

Malaysia, then joined the S-League in

2009. That first spell was interrupted by
      FIFA’s suspension but DPMM returned
      and won a first title in 2015.
      British coach Adrian Pennock,
      formerly of Forest Green Rovers,
      repeated the feat in 2019 using Brunei’s
      best players and just three foreigners.
      One is Englishman Charlie Clough, who
      says: “A lot of the DPMM players don’t
      like the national team and there’s a
      massive difference with the local league.
      We played the champions in a friendly
      and beat them10-0.”
      DPMM withdrew from the 2020
      S-League after the first two rounds due
      to the coronavirus. After a year of just
      training, DPMM’s players may be keener
      to take part in the Suzuki Cup but to
      produce a consistently competitive team
      requires wider changes, says former
      technical directorJohn Whittle.
      Whittle, who left in December 2019
      after16 months, says coach education
      and grassroots development need
      addressing, as does a bias towards
      one of Brunei’s four districts.
      He explains: “I often questioned how
      players were selected into national age
      group squads, as 99 per cent of all age
      group squads came from Muara. It is
      similar with the14 clubs that now make
      up the Senior League Competition: all
      are from Muara. Why are the clubs from
      Tutong, Belait and Temburong not a part
      of the NFABD?
      “Without strategic planning across the
      four districts, then how can they be
      competitive internationally?”
      If Brunei are to progress, changes are
      clearly required.

B

DPMM...

champions

of Brunei

This inactivity was partly due to

being suspended by FIFA in 2009

for two years due to government

interference

Brunei

STEVE MENARY

Charlie Clough...the

former Forest Green

Rovers defender

starred for DPMM in

the 2019 title win