Bernhardt happy for fast turnaround of matches

PETALING JAYA: National Under-22 team coach Frank Bernhardt is happy to see his team play two matches in three days.

The national Under-22 team beat Brunei’s senior side 2-0 in a friendly at the Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium in Paroi on Thursday. The two teams will meet in a second friendly at the same venue today.

The German believes that having to play two matches in such a short time will give his players an idea of what to expect in tournaments.

“We only have a day’s rest ... but this is what we can expect when we compete in tournaments. So, it will be a good experience for the players,” said the 47-year-old coach, who is preparing the team for next year’s Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.

“We don’t have the first squad here, so it’s a good time for the other players to make an impression.”

Commenting on the 2-0 win over Brunei, the former Estonia Under-23 coach admitted that his side made heavy weather of a game they should have won easily.

“We saw two different halves ... the first half was a little difficult and we struggled to impose our style of play ... there wasn’t much to see,” said Bernhardt.

“The second half was totally different. We made some changes, started attacking and creating chances ... and scored two goals in the end.

“I think the main problem is that I only had one or two days to train the full team, so it was difficult to play as a unit.”