Brunei Still Searching For Two More Imports
By Benny Ang

Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei fans will be hoping that their national side's 5-3 drubbing of Sabah in a pre-season friendly on Sunday night has marked the beginning of a reversal of fortunes for the Wasps.

With so many new faces in the side and just one proven import in the line-up, the Brunei side showed their mettle with an outstanding victory and while it may just be nothing more than an irrelevant pre-season result, at least for now the signs are encouraging.

There is still plenty to be done for the team and their management as their search for a further two additional imports continues.

Assistant team manager Hj Asmalee has confirmed that Ouedraogo Souleymane, the 19-year old defender from Burkina Paso has been deemed not good enough for Brunei and will not be given a contract for the upcoming season.

Souleymane has beer in Brunei the last two weeks and featured in the win over Sabah but apparently was not of the quality that BAFA were looking for in an import player.

"He did well but unfortunately with the standard of Malaysian football getting better and better, we have to be very careful in who we select as an import.

"We have to be very convinced of his abilities and temperament and unfortunately, he was just not what we were looking for. We have several more imports coming in for trial and hopefully we can conclude our search in time for the start of the league.

"We have quite a new team this year and the Sabah game featured many newcomers. The result showed that the team is in confident spirits and with two more imports, hopefully we can surprise a few people by claiming that promotion spot," said the Brunei assistant manager.

But while Brunei fans have been buzzing about the will, on the opposite end of the spectrum, there has been a huge outcry of discontent in Kota Kinabalu regarding Sabah's two losses on this trip which may mean trouble for their English coach Peter Butler.

Two days before their 5-3 loss to Brunei, they featured in another friendly match and lost 5-2 to DPMM FC, one of Brunei's premier club teams and needless to say, both results have not been well received back in Kota Kinabalu.

According to a report in the New Sabah Times, the results were hard to swallow for the Rhinos fans and clearly highlights the team's weaknesses for the upcoming season.

Said Butler: “I’m not too concerned about the defeats because I have yet to name by best 11 players. I had a lot of young players in the squad and were missing one or two key experienced players.

"The trip was more for me to look at the imports on trial than it was. I hate losing just as much as the next person but sometimes, you have to go backward to move forward."

Sabah's influential goalkeeper Khairul Azman Mohammad did not make the trip as he is still unfit while their dynamic midfielder Sanbagaram was on duty with the Malaysian national squad in Kuala Lumpur.

Only one import, Keith Gumbs has been retained by the Rhinos for this season while the others are, vying for three other possible spots on the roster.

Australian Robbie Gaspar and Liberian Josiah Seton are the old faces while striker Marlon James from St. Vincent, Brazilian Leosmar Dc Nacimento and Englishman Ben Sheridan are the other three trialists with the team. -- Courtesy of Radio Television Brunei 

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