National coach Kwon Oh-son has warned his players to be wary of Indonesia's speed when the two countries' Under-23 sides clash in a friendly at Yogyakarta, Indonesia tomorrow.
Both Brunei and Indonesia are currently deep in preparation for December's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, with the latter among the favourites to win the tournament in Myanmar this year.
"The Indonesian players are very quick," noted the coach in an interview with The Brunei Times prior to the team's departure at the Brunei International Airport in Berakas yesterday.
"They like to use their wingers and full-backs to support in attack in find goals, so we must work hard especially the defenders.
"They need to focus, organise and work as a unit.
"Indonesia are one of the strongest teams in Southeast Asia and they have some of the best players in the region.
"I've heard they have called up their players from Europe and America to play against us, so it should be very interesting," added the South Korean.
The inclusion of the three DPMM FC players striker Adi Said, midfielder Azwan Ali Rahman and goalkeeper Muhd Fakhrul Zulhazmi Yussof has also helped to boost the national side's chances.
"We are very happy to be here with the national team and to be reunited with coach Kwon and some of the players," said Adi, who like the Azwan and Muhd Fakhrul were part of the national Under-21 side which won the Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy after Kwon guided the side to a 2-0 win against Indonesia.
"For me, Indonesia are always going to be a tough team to play, but we will give it our best," he added.
Azwan agreed with Adi and said he expects the hosts to field their strongest first-11 in tomorrow's friendly.
"I've heard Indonesia are preparing seriously for the SEA Games and I am sure they will make it very hard for us especially they are playing at their home ground.
"Even though we (including Adi and Muhd Fakhrul Zulhazmi) were only with the national team for the past few days, we are familiar with coach Kwon's unique style of coaching and we can easily adapt to it.
"We trust coach Kwon with his selection of the players, we are here to play for the country.
"There should be no division between senior and junior players, all the players are at the same level and our only goal is to do our best in the game," added Azwan.
The team's manager Hj Feisal Hj Eusoff said that the players must give their 100 per cent in the game tomorrow.
"We wanted a friendly game against Indonesia and once we agreed to play them, we must be responsible to ourselves, to the country and to the fans," stressed the manager.
"We must try our best and we must not give up. We must fight for the whole 90 minutes and I hope that we will not upset our fans in the country," he added.
