Hodak has to find a way to break ‘park the bus’ tactic

NATIONAL youth coach Bojan Hodak has to come up with a solution to overcome Brunei’s “park the bus” tactic ahead of Saturday’s Group F showdown in the AFC Under-19 qualifiers at Paju Stadium in South Korea.

On Tuesday, Malaysia bounced back from a medicore first half performance to beat Timor Leste 3-1 with all goals coming from set-pieces, while Indonesia hammered Brunei 5-0 in the other group match.

“We watched Brunei yesterday and basically they parked the bus against Indonesia. They defended 20 metres in front of their goalmouth in most periods of the match,” said Hodak yesterday.

“We scored from set-pieces against Timor Leste, but we will need to do things differently against Brunei. I believe we will be doing most of the attacking on Saturday.

“I am using the next three days not only to prepare for Brunei but also for the following two matches against Indonesia on Monday and South Korea on Nov 8.

“We will only have one day of rest in-between the last two matches and this will be challenging for us as we will not have much time to prepare.”

Hodak indicated that he will make changes to his starting line-up against Brunei.

“I need to make changes as our following games are against the two toughest teams in the group. I need my core players to be fresh as the final two matches will determine whether we do well or not.

“I can afford to take this risk as I expect Brunei to finish bottom in this group.

“Only the points collected and the goal difference among the top three teams will be important for the side that finish second in terms of qualification for next year’s tournament proper in Indonesia,” said the Croat.

Hodak said he has no injury issues in the team.

“Two players were down with minor knocks after the Timor Leste win, but they had their reco very sessions and are now able to train.”